


In Vino Veritas

by Angelswing



Category: Downton Abbey
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Friends to Lovers, doing things backwards
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-09
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-13 16:47:11
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 61
Words: 117,496
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28656699
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Angelswing/pseuds/Angelswing
Summary: Contrary to popular belief, what happens in Vegas doesn't always stay in Vegas.
Relationships: Tom Branson/Mary Crawley
Comments: 234
Kudos: 98





	1. Chapter 1

Consciousness came painfully to Mary. Her head weighed a thousand tons, her limbs felt like lead and there was a distinct possibility that a small furry creature had crawled into her mouth during the night and died.

She groaned, low and deep in her throat, the sound barely breaking the silence of the room, and gingerly cracked open an eyelid. The room was mercifully dim, the curtains still closed, just the odd chink of light peeking around the edges and the vee where the drapes met.

Mary groaned again, barely able to move, but feeling an increasingly pressing need to use the bathroom. She lifted the duvet to drag herself out of bed and froze, three brand new facts immediately warring for her attention.

Firstly, she was naked. Mary never slept naked except on the hottest of nights, and certainly never in an air-conditioned hotel room where she always had a fear the fire alarm could go off at any time. Secondly, apparently, she wasn’t alone. There was a decidedly masculine arm draped over her midriff. And now she thought about it, there was a solid warmth in the bed behind her. Finally, on the third finger of the left hand currently dangling loosely over her stomach, there was a gold wedding band.

Moving slowly and carefully, Mary laid her pounding head gently back onto her pillow, closing her eyes, her sluggish mind trying to piece these facts together.

Her first coherent thought was that she’d obviously drunk her own bodyweight in alcohol the night before because she had what was most definitely the beginnings of the mother of all hangovers.

Her second thought, flushing hot through her, was that she must have copped off with someone and brought him back to her hotel room.

And her third thought was that, whoever he was, he was married.

Shame tripped through her. Since her brief, ill-advised dalliance with Tony Gillingham, other women’s men were not her thing. Generally, she gave short shrift to any married man who showed an interest in her. Obviously, the amount of booze she must have thrown down her neck last night had loosened her inhibitions quite significantly.

Her full bladder flashed a warning to her shocked brain and Mary grimaced, knowing she had to move. She pried her eyes open again, gratefully noticing there was a sheet under the duvet, loose as if pulled from under the mattress by two bodies writhing underneath it. Embarrassment gripped Mary at the thought of the sex she must have had with the stranger in her bed. She grasped the edge of the sheet, clutching it to her breasts and slithered as quietly and stealthily as she could out of the bed. She heard the thud of the man’s arm land on the mattress and a slight incoherent mutter from him. Mary fled, dragging the sheet from the bed and wrapping it firmly around her as she legged it to the safety of the bathroom without looking back.

Once inside, she hitched the sheet so she could use the loo without exposing her nakedness even to herself. She sat there, relieving herself, digging through her hangover-fogged mind for any glimmer of memory that might help her remember the events of the previous night.

She recalled going out for dinner, her, Tom, Anna and Thomas. She remembered them ordering wine and champagne, drinking way more than they ate. She remembered them deciding to go to a club. She remembered oohing and ahhing at the Bellagio fountains dancing gracefully in the warm night air, but after that it was a blur. Snatches of dancing closely with a man on a sweaty dance floor, knocking back cocktails, lots of laughter, but nothing more.

But it didn’t make any sense. She'd been with her friends; she knew she had. So, how had she ended up in bed with a unknown married man? How had they let that happen? The only explanation was that they had been at least as drunk as her. And if she were brutally honest with herself, Mary knew if she’d made her mind up about something, not even the combined might of her friends would have stopped her. Perhaps her lust for Mr X had been so strong, she’d ignored their warnings. Still, she was going to have words with the three of them when she caught up with them.

Despite racking her aching brain, Mary had no recollection of meeting a man last night, presumably an American given where they were. She definitely had no memory of being overcome by so much lust she’d thrown her principles to the wind and slept with a married stranger.

Mary sighed, gingerly getting to her feet. She flushed the loo, hoping the noise didn’t wake her visitor, and went to the sink to wash her hands and splash her face with water to see if that would revive her. Tucking the sheet around her, Mary stared at herself in the mirror as she patted her face dry. She looked tired in the harsh light of the bathroom, which wasn’t really a surprise. Her eyes were puffy with dark circles under them. Her skin looked dull and lacklustre. Mary poked at her cheek, thinking ruefully that at least Mr X might beat a quick retreat when he saw her in the cold light of day.

Something glinted under the cold light of the bathroom, catching her attention. Mary froze, her eyes drawn to the third finger of her left hand. An unfamiliar gold band sat there, winking in the light. Mary frowned, sticking her hand out to examine it. No, she definitely didn’t recognise it. It wasn’t the wedding ring Matthew had given her. It wasn’t another of her rings, perhaps drunkenly switched to the wrong finger and twisted round to hide the stones. No, this looked like nothing so much as a new wedding band.

A horrible thought flashed into Mary’s mind, lodging there as welcome as a fish bone in the throat. A wedding band. What if… no, it couldn’t be.

But the thought persisted, burrowing deeper into her brain. What if she hadn’t slept with a married man after all? What if she’d _married_ said man last night?

Mary shook her head, immediately regretting it as the pounding inside her brain intensified. She gripped the edge of the sink, waiting for the sudden bout of nausea to subside. This couldn’t be real. There must be a flaw in her logic. Mary knew in her gut she wasn’t the type of woman to meet a man and marry him the same night. She would never do that.

Would she?

She squeezed her eyes shut, desperately trying to pull up any memory of hooking up with a man last night. She drew a blank. There was nothing there. Not even a flicker.

Mary sighed. There was nothing else for it. She had to go out and face up to her mistake. If nothing else, maybe Mr X would be able to fill in the blanks in her memory. And then at least she’d know exactly what she’d done last night.

Mary took another look in the mirror, her vanity making her fluff her hair a bit. Her eyes fell on the travel-sized bottle of mouthwash and she snatched it up, having a quick gargle to get rid of the worst of her morning breath. Checking her reflection once more, she tucked the sheet tighter around her, took a deep breath and went to the bathroom door, opening it up and stepping out into the room.

A trail of clothes led from the main door to the bed. Mary cringed, imagining the scene. She recognised the clothes she’d been wearing last night, her high heels kicked to one side, her red dress, her bra tossed carelessly on the floor, her knickers by the side of the bed. And then she froze because there was a man’s shirt on the floor next to her dress, and it was one she recognised. Hell, she’d helped pick it out.

No, it couldn’t be. It simply couldn’t be.

Mary closed her eyes, steeling herself, then opened them again, finally – nervously – looking over at the bed. Lying there asleep, his upper body quite clearly naked, his lower body thankfully covered by her duvet, was no American stranger, but a very familiar Irishman.

Tom. Her brother-in-law. In her bed. Very probably naked. Wearing a wedding ring.

Mary clapped her hand over her mouth, shock pulsing through her. No, this was not happening. This could not be happening. Her mind was racing, trying again to remember anything about last night, still coming up with a big fat zero. She needed help. She needed Tom to wake up and help her remember. No, what she really needed was for Tom to wake up and laugh at the notion that they may have done something really, spectacularly, epically stupid while under the influence last night.

Mary pulled back one of the curtains, squinting in pain at the brightness of the morning sun, then turned back to face the bed and squared her shoulders. Time to wake him up.

‘Tom,’ she hissed.

He stirred but didn’t wake.

Mary took a couple of steps closer and tried again. ‘Tom!’

He muttered something and pulled the pillow further under his head.

Mary came closer still, speaking louder and more urgently. ‘Tom! Wake up!’

She winced, clutching her head at the harsh sound of her own voice. On the bed, Tom woke up and groaned pathetically, slinging his arm over his eyes.

‘Wha? Ugh. Noooo.’

‘Tom. Are you awake?’

‘No,’ came the short reply in a voice as rough as sandpaper.

‘Tom,’ Mary tried again.

Tom shifted his head cautiously, moaning a little at the movement, and peered at her from under his arm. ‘Mary? Mary? What… why… what are you doing in my room?’

‘I’m not in your room. You’re in mine,’ Mary told him through gritted teeth.

Tom closed his eyes again and rubbed his palm over his forehead. ‘What? Why am I in your room?’

‘I don’t know. I’ve been trying to remember what happened last night. Do you remember anything?’

Tom sighed, forcing his tired, hungover mind to think back to the previous night. Dinner. Alcohol. Lots and lots of alcohol. Dancing. More alcohol. Beyond that, nothing.

‘No. I remember drinking a lot. Not much else.’

Mary steeled herself to ask her next question. ‘Tom, are you naked?’

She saw Tom crack his eyes open at that and stare up at the ceiling. Gingerly, he raised the duvet and peered down at himself, then delicately placed his head very precisely back onto the pillow. ‘Um, yes.’

‘Oh, God. So am I.’

Tom twisted his head very carefully, squinting over at Mary, taking in her bare shoulders and the sheet wrapped around her.

‘Are you… do you… did we… shit, do you think we…’ He trailed off, seemingly unable to finish that thought.

‘Had sex?’

Tom nodded and winced.

‘I don’t know, but I’d say it’s likely. Our clothes are all over the floor and I woke up next to you without a stitch on and your arm draped over me,’ Mary said, part of her brain marvelling at how calm her voice was under the circumstances.

Tom was silent, digesting that. ‘I don’t remember. I don’t remember, uh, you know. How can we not remember? I mean, how rat-arsed were we if we had sex and neither of us can remember it?’

‘I think we did more than have sex.’

Tom frowned at her. ‘More than sex? What do you mean? What’s more than…’ He paled, a worried look on his face. ‘Christ, please don’t tell me Anna and Thomas are in the bathroom and we had some kind of orgy!’

Mary shook her head then grimaced, still feeling the pain. ‘No. Look at your hand.’

‘My hand?’ Tom lifted his right hand up, trying to focus on it.

‘Your other hand,’ Mary gritted out.

Tom dropped his right hand and lifted up his left, staring at it. Mary saw the ring again as soon as Tom raised his hand and her stomach twisted. She also saw the moment he realised what he was looking at, saw his eyebrows climb up his forehead.

‘Is that... is that a wedding ring?’

‘Yes,’ Mary said in a clipped voice.

‘But… but… why… what… did I get married? Surely not. Why would I…’ Tom squinted at Mary again. ‘Wait a minute. Who did I marry?’

‘I’ll give you one guess,’ Mary replied tartly, sticking her own left hand up in front of her and waggling her fingers at him.

Tom stared at her, his eyes flicking between the ring on her finger and her face. He couldn’t have looked more shocked if he’d tried.

‘Are you… are you winding me up? Is this some kind of elaborate joke you’re playing on me?’

Mary rolled her eyes, regretting it immediately. ‘You really think I’d strip you naked, get myself into a sheet and put matching wedding rings on us just to freak you out?’

Tom considered this. ‘Maybe not. But I know someone who would.’

Mary narrowed her eyes at him. ‘Thomas,’ she said, succinctly.

‘Thomas,’ he agreed.

Mary took a few careful steps to sit on the end of the bed, her legs unwilling to hold her up anymore. ‘If this is all down to that little shit, I am going to kill him. And fire him.’

Tom gave her a shaky grin. ‘You won’t need to fire him if you’ve already killed him. That’s what’s known as overkill.’

‘Shut up, Tom,’ Mary said, without any real heat. She crinkled her forehead thinking about the possibility that this could all be a prank. ‘Do you really think this could be Thomas playing a joke on us?’

‘I don’t know. All I know is that it’s better than the alternative.’

Mary bristled a bit at that. ‘Better than having sex with me?’

Tom gave her a look. ‘Better than suddenly finding ourselves married. To each other.’

‘Hmm, yes, there is that,’ Mary said, slightly mollified.

‘Besides,’ Tom continued, giving her a sideways glance, ‘if I was going to have sex with you, I’d want to remember it.’

‘Oh, believe me, you would,’ Mary said, confidently, returning his look. ‘You’d remember every single second of it.’

They stared at each other for a moment, before they both seemed to remember they were naked on the same bed, just a sheet and a duvet covering their modesty. Mary looked down at the carpet, willing away the flush she could feel stealing up from her chest to her face, wondering why in the hell she had said that.

‘Well, I suppose I should go back to my own room,’ Tom said, breaking the awkward silence.

‘Yes,’ Mary nodded in agreement. ‘I’m going to take a shower.’

‘Right, well, could you, er, could you maybe pass me my underwear? I mean, I know you may or may not be my wife now, but I’m not sure I’m ready to flash my family jewels at you just yet.’

Mary pulled a face and, clutching the front of her sheet tightly against her chest, hastily bent forward to pick Tom’s boxer briefs up, pinching the barest edge of the waistband between her thumb and index finger and swinging them across the bed to him. He grabbed at them, sticking his arms under the duvet and wriggling into his underwear. Once he’d done that, he sat up, swinging his legs over the side of the bed. He groaned, putting his hand to his head.

‘Jesus, what the hell did we drink last night? My head is pounding.’

‘Mine too. I remember champagne, wine and cocktails. You can probably add Guinness to that mix.’

Tom groaned again. ‘Don’t. I might puke.’

‘If you puke on the carpet, we’re switching rooms,’ Mary said, sternly, determined not to be the one left in a room stinking of vomit.

Tom levered himself to his feet, wobbled a bit then moved tentatively around the bed to start picking up his clothes.

Mary tried not to stare at his backside as he bent over to pick up his trousers. Tom straightened up and closed his eyes, dropping heavily onto the bed beside her, sitting quietly for a minute before slowly stuffing one leg after the other into his trousers.

Mary took pity on him and went to retrieve his shirt and jacket, dropping them in his lap.

‘Thanks.’

Mary stood in front of him, still hanging on to her sheet, formulating a plan. ‘Right, you go back to your room and get showered and dressed then we’ll go and find Thomas together and let him know exactly what we think of this prank.’

Tom nodded, shrugging into his shirt and haphazardly buttoning it up. He picked up his jacket, shoving his arms into it before patting the pockets to locate his phone. He paused at the crinkling noise that came from his inner pocket, peering down into it to see what was there.

‘Er, Mary.’

‘What?’ she said, her mind already on the shower and what a blessed relief it would be to stand under the hot spray.

‘I’m not sure Thomas will be able to help us,’ Tom said, staring at the piece of paper he’d pulled out of his pocket.

‘Why? What’s that?’ Mary peered at the paper, trying to read it upside down.

Tom looked up at her, a shocked expression on his face. ‘It’s a marriage certificate.’

‘It’s a… what? It can’t be. Give me that!’

Mary snatched the paper from Tom’s unresisting hands, scanning it frantically. And there it was in black and white, a marriage certificate issued in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, dated today in the wee small hours, listing Thomas Declan Branson and Mary Josephine Crawley as husband and wife.

‘Oh, fuck,’ she said, slumping down on the bed next to her, well, her husband.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no idea if you can really get married at the drop of a hat in Vegas, but let's go with it for the purposes of the plot! Also, pandemic? What pandemic?


	2. Chapter 2

‘Married?’ said Anna, leaning her elbows on the table and massaging her temples, her eyes hidden behind a huge pair of sunglasses.

‘Yes,’ Mary bit out.

‘You and Tom?’

‘Yes! And you bloody witnessed it!’

Anna screwed up her face. ‘I did?’

‘Yes,’ Mary hissed, her patience evaporating fast.

‘Are you sure?’

‘Yes!’ Mary snapped for what felt like the umpteenth time. ‘Your name is on the certificate.’

Anna winced. ‘Please, Mary, I know you’re upset but can you just keep it down? My head is killing me.’

‘Oh, I’m sorry, is the small matter of my life being turned upside down interrupting your hangover?’ Mary said loudly, leaning close to Anna’s ear.

Anna cringed away from her, groaning and moving her hand to cover her ear.

‘Oi, oi! How are we both this fine day then?’ came a familiar Mancunian voice. Thomas plopped down in the chair on the other side of Mary, looking far more perky than he had any right to considering he’d been on the same bender as the rest of them. He pulled off his sunglasses, chucked them on the table then squinted at Anna and grinned. ‘Well, don’t you look like shit, Mrs Bates.’

Anna gave him the finger and went back to ineffectively massaging her temples.

Mary scowled at Thomas. ‘You. What have you got to say for yourself?’

‘About what?’

‘About this, witness number two,’ Mary said, shoving her newly minted marriage certificate under his nose.

Thomas pulled his head back, peering down at the bit of paper. ‘Oh, that. Yeah, congratulations.’

Mary gaped at him. ‘What? You don’t even seem surprised!’

Thomas looked at her like she was mad. ‘Well, duh, of course, I’m not surprised. I was there.’

‘And you remember it?’

‘Of course, I do. It was, like, 10 hours ago or something,’ Thomas said, settling himself more comfortably in his chair. He looked around signalling a waiter for coffee before glancing back at Mary and seeing she was still gawping at him, mouth like a goldfish. ‘What? Don’t _you_ remember it?’

‘No,’ she croaked. ‘Not a sodding second of it.’

‘Oh. Well. Awkward.’ Thomas pulled a not-in-the-least-bit sympathetic face at her then winked at the rather attractive waiter before dumping three sugars in his hot, black coffee.

‘Is that all you’ve got to say?’

‘What do you want me to say?’ Thomas sipped his coffee, a look of bliss appearing on his face. ‘Oh, that’s like bloody nectar, that is.’

‘I want to know why you didn’t stop me!’

Thomas looked indignant at that. ‘I tried! I told you I didn’t know why anyone in their right minds would want to marry Branson. I mean, he’s fit and all if you like that type of thing - I can see the appeal for a one-nighter - but he’s not exactly Ryan Reynolds. And he can bore for Ireland, that lad, once he starts on about cars. Plus, there is the small matter of him once being married to your sister. I said all that at the time and you ignored me.’

Mary gawped at Thomas some more, taking in his words, as he took another sip of his coffee. ‘But… why didn’t you just physically stop me?’

Thomas favoured her with an incredulous look. ‘I tried that too, but you shoved me out of the way. Said I wasn’t your dad – which, thank God – and nobody was going to tell you what to do, least of all me. I even put you over my shoulder and tried to carry you out of there, but you whacked me and said you’d sack me if I got in your way.’

‘No. No, I did not,’ Mary said, uncertainly.

‘Oh, you did. Nearly got me right in the moneymaker with your flailing fists.’ Thomas looked at her in amusement. ‘Do you really not remember any of this?’

Mary shook her head, wondering if Thomas was messing with her. None of this sounded remotely familiar. But there was the marriage certificate lying on the table between them in silent corroboration of his unlikely story.

‘Well, if I was so out of it, why didn’t you try to stop Tom?’

Thomas snickered. ‘What? Try to reason with Mr Lover Man? You’re having a laugh, aren’t you? He was well up for it, giving you puppy dog eyes and saying it was meant to be. He was proper gagging for you, hearts in the eyes and everything. It was his Irish charm that got us through the door in the first place. They usually have some rule about not letting drunk people get hitched – a very sensible rule if you ask me – but he told them it wasn’t a spur-of-the-moment thing and, for some reason, they believed his blarney. Probably helped that you were all over him like a rash, of course, agreeing with every word and batting your eyes at him.’

‘I… what?’ Mary said, faintly.

Thomas grinned, looking positively devilish. ‘Oh, yes. Surely you remember that? You and him were practically attached at the mouth. What with that and Tom telling all and sundry how in luuuuurve you both were, I thought you two must have been banging on the sly and this was your way of coming clean about it. I mean, who am I to stand in the way of true love?’

Mary moaned and buried her face in her hands, shaking her head.

Thomas looked over at Anna, who was peering at him, sunglasses now perched on her head, a thoughtful look on her face. ‘What about you, Batesy? Any of this ringing a bell for you?’

Anna grimaced. ‘Some of it is, now I’ve heard you telling it.’

Mary looked up at her. ‘What do you remember?’

‘I remember you saying you’d sack him if he stopped you. I remember thinking how unfair that would be.’

‘And? Anything else?’

‘I remember a bit of the ceremony. And the kiss at the end.’

‘Ah, yes,’ Thomas grinned. ‘The kiss.’

Mary looked between them in trepidation. ‘What kiss?’

‘Oh, Mary, it was like a Hollywood production,’ Thomas told her gleefully. ‘One of those swoony, old-fashioned kisses. You went in for a big old snog and Tom swooped you down backwards. It was quite romantic really. Well, until you both collapsed on the floor and just kept snogging.’

‘Nooooo,’ Mary groaned. ‘No. That. That never happened.’

‘It did,’ Anna said, starting to nod her head and then thinking better of it. ‘That’s exactly what I remember.’

‘We practically had to stop you shagging right there and then on the floor of the chapel. I mean, talk about embarrassing. You did nothing for the reputation of the Brits abroad,’ Thomas told Mary, mock disapproval on his face. ‘I’ve got some pictures of the ceremony on my phone. Do you want to see them?’

He fished his phone out of his pocket, tapping in his passcode and scrolling through his picture gallery before shoving the phone at Mary.

She picked it up and looked at the first picture, which was a selfie taken by Thomas of all four of them, grinning crazily at the camera, Tom showing off a small open box with two rings in it, Mary pointing to the fake flowers she was clutching.

Mary gulped, swiping to the next picture. Her and Tom, her wearing the red dress from last night, him wearing the shirt that had recently decorated the floor of her room. They were standing facing each other, holding hands, grinning soppily at each other.

The next swipe took her to a short video of her and Tom saying ‘I do’ in front of an Elvis impersonator. The utter cliché of it all stuck in her throat, but Tom was an Elvis fan, that much she knew.

Thomas leaned in over her shoulder as he heard the video replaying her drunken nuptials. ‘I thought I’d better film the big moment for your mum and dad seeing as they were missing all the fun.’

Mary shot him a glare and swiped again. Another video, this time of the kiss at the end of the ceremony, happening exactly as Thomas had so gleefully described. Then a few pictures that were obviously stills from the video, plus a couple of photos of her and Tom on the ground, still kissing, hands pawing at each other.

Mary dropped the phone and slithered further down into her chair, her hands covering her face.

‘Shit,’ she said. 

‘Where is your hubby anyway?’ Thomas asked, looking around for Tom. ‘Have you worn him out already?’

‘Don’t call him that,’ Mary muttered behind her fingers.

Thomas grinned at her, not even trying to hide his amusement at the situation. ‘Hey, you married him, mate, not me.’

Mary took her face out of her hands and glared at Thomas. ‘I want you to know I hold you personally responsible for all this.’

‘Me? How is this my fault?’ Thomas said, affronted. ‘I didn’t marry anyone, and I didn’t force you to either. In fact, I tried to stop you.’

‘Well, you didn’t try hard enough, did you, you idiot?’

‘That’s hardly fair,’ Thomas pouted. ‘Stopping you doing something when you’ve made your mind up is like trying to teach fish to walk.’

‘You’re the only one out of the four of us who remembers anything about this bloody marriage, so it stands to bloody reason that you were the least drunk one and you should have bloody stopped it happening!’ Mary paused in her rant to eye him curiously. ‘Why are you so bloody chipper anyway when the rest of us are dying?’

‘I went to uni in Manchester. I’m a hardened drinker. Got a liver like a Brita filter. Plus, I was a good boy and didn’t neglect my standard two pints of water and aspirin before I went to bed last night. Works like a charm. I never get hangovers, me. You should try it.’ Thomas looked Mary up and down and smirked. ‘I suppose you were too busy celebrating your nuptials last night to think about staving off a hangover, what with it being your wedding night and all.’

Thomas’s grin got wider as Mary squirmed in her chair. He waggled his eyebrows at her.

‘Any good, was he? Come on, you can tell your Uncle Thomas.’

Mary wouldn’t meet his eyes. ‘I don’t know.’

Thomas’s grin threatened to split his face open. ‘Oh, now, wait a minute. Don’t tell me you don’t remember that either?!?'

Mary was silent.

'You don’t, do you? You don't remember knobbing your shiny, new husband!' Thomas was practically beside himself with glee. 'Oh, this is perfect! This is gold! Anna, are you hearing this? Branson must be all kinds of crap in the sack if you don’t even remember your wedding night!’

‘Maybe we didn’t have sex,’ Mary said quickly, feeling an inexplicable need to defend Tom.

‘Bollocks you didn’t have sex,’ Thomas scoffed. ‘You were like dogs in heat, the two of you. You’ll back me up on that, won’t you, Anna? The only way you didn’t shag last night is if Tom was too drunk to get it up.’

‘Given the size of his hangover today, that’s entirely possible,’ Mary said, grabbing onto that possibility.

Anna said nothing, reluctant to get caught up any deeper in this conversation, reaching instead for the murky mixture of tomato juice and God knows what else on the table in front of her.

Thomas snorted. ‘So, to recap, he’s either a piss-poor drunk with a bad case of brewer’s droop or a crap shag. Got yourself a good one there, Mary.’

Mary bristled at that. ‘He doesn’t remember anything either and, I assure you, if he’d had sex with me, he would remember that however drunk he was.’

Thomas’s lips twitched as he attempted to stifle his grin. ‘If you say so. Sex with women is not my area of expertise.’

Mary glared at him again and got to her feet, snatching up her marriage certificate. ‘I’m going up to lie down for a while.’

‘Alone?’ Thomas enquired, innocently.

‘Piss off,’ Mary retorted, turning on her heel to head back to bed.

Thomas chortled, picking up his coffee cup again and looking around for that cute waiter for a refill and maybe a bit of a flirt as Anna sat across from him, sunglasses now firmly back over her aching eyes, dying quietly.


	3. Chapter 3

‘We’re married,’ Mary told Tom flatly as he opened the door of his hotel room to her. She walked past him, inviting herself in. ‘Thomas remembers everything. And he’s got photographic evidence. I’ve seen it.’

‘I know we’re married. I went down to the chapel and they confirmed it.’

Mary stared at him. ‘You did? Is it legal?’

Tom nodded. ‘Yep.’

‘But… can’t they undo it?’

‘No. I asked.’

‘But we’re not even American! How can it be legal?’ Mary sputtered, utterly outraged. ‘I mean, neither of us even remember getting married! How can it count?’

‘The woman I spoke to said they don’t normally marry drunk people, but apparently the celebrant last night was new and not completely up to speed with the chapel’s rules.’

Mary goggled at him. ‘Are you kidding me? Are you actually kidding me? We’re married – legally bloody married! – because we had a bloody trainee celebrant who didn’t know their arse from their elbow?’

Tom nodded again, heaving a sigh. ‘To be fair, we must have gone in the chapel and asked them to marry us in the first place.’

‘Yes, Thomas says that was down to you,’ Mary said, glaring at him.

He frowned at her, obviously trying to search his memory. ‘Me? Are you sure?’

‘No, Tom, I’m not sure because I don’t remember a damn thing about it, but that’s what Thomas said. He said you charmed them into marrying us. Told them it wasn’t a spur-of-the-moment thing and talked them into forgetting about the ‘no drunk people’ rule.’

‘I… really?’ Tom looked gobsmacked at that. ‘Why would I have said that?’

‘Well, I don’t bloody know, do I? Thomas said he thought we must have been-,‘ Mary broke off abruptly, suddenly unwilling to tell him what Thomas had thought.

‘Been what? Drunk off our arses? Out of our tiny little minds?’

‘Shagging,’ Mary said, curtly. ‘He thinks we’ve been secretly shagging and that’s why this happened.’

Tom stared at her. ‘But we haven’t.’

‘I know that. That much I do remember.’

‘Except for maybe last night,’ he said, colouring up a bit.

Mary felt her own cheeks warm. ‘Um, yes. I mean, no. I don’t think we did.’

‘What? You mean you remember?’

‘No, but I didn’t find any… evidence of it when I looked.’

Tom raised an eyebrow at her. 'What does that mean?'

Mary rolled her eyes, irritated that he wasn't picking up on her unspoken meaning. ‘I didn’t find a condom in my room, okay?’

Tom hesitated before speaking, eyeing her carefully. ‘Maybe we didn’t use one.’

Mary stared at him, her eyes wide, her mouth dropping open. ‘No, we wouldn’t have done that, surely. We wouldn’t have been that irresponsible.’

Tom huffed out a wry laugh. ‘Mary, we apparently got married last night while pissed out of our heads. And then we woke up naked in the same bed this morning. Do you really think we just stripped off and went to sleep? And if we were drunk enough to get married, do you really think we were sober enough to have thought about using protection?’

Mary sagged down onto the edge of the bed, one hand rubbing at her forehead. ‘Christ. How is this happening, Tom? Yesterday, we were best friends on a business trip. Today, we’re married and may have possibly had unprotected sex. I mean, what the hell?’

Tom sat down next to her. ‘I don’t know. I’m just as knocked for six by this as you are.’

Leaning into him, Mary rested her head against his shoulder. ‘I can’t be pregnant, Tom. I can’t have a baby. Not like this.’

Tom nodded, slowly, thinking about how to pose his next question. ‘Did you… er, was there any other evidence that we… you know… without a condom?’

Mary frowned, twisting her head to squint up at him. ‘What do you mean?’

Tom raised his eyebrows at her. ‘What do you think I mean, Mary? Before you showered, did you notice anything? Anything on you or… in you?’

Mary froze, suddenly catching his drift. ‘Oh. Uh, well, I didn’t really think about it until after I showered, so… I don’t know.’

‘Right. Okay. Well, maybe we can get you a morning-after pill from a pharmacy. Just to be on the safe side.’

Mary nodded, then sat up straight as a thought occurred to her. ‘Your wallet. Where is it?’

‘There,’ Tom said, pointing at the cabinet by the bed. ‘Why?’

‘Do you carry a condom in it?’

Understanding flooded Tom’s face and he leaned over to pick up his wallet, opening it up. Mary watched him then felt her hopes drain away as he pulled out a foil-wrapped packet.

‘It’s still here.’

‘Crap,’ Mary said, staring despondently at the unused condom.

Tom nodded, stuffing the condom back into his wallet. He dropped it on the bed beside him and pulled his phone out of the back pocket of his jeans.

‘What are you doing?’

‘Googling nearby pharmacies.’

Mary sighed and flopped back onto the bed, staring up at the ceiling. Crap.

* * *

That evening saw the four of them getting on a flight back to the UK, leaving the bright lights of the Strip behind them.

‘You come sit with me, Anna,’ Thomas said, bustling up the aisle of the plane with an evil grin on his face. ‘I’m guessing you two lovebirds will want to sit together. No hanky panky, though. Don’t forget we’re right behind you.’

‘Sod off, Thomas,’ Mary said, shoving her sunglasses up on top of her head.

‘I’m just saying. After last night, I know how uninhibited you two can get in public,’ he smirked, plopping down into his seat.

Tom reached over and cuffed him lightly around the back of the head, not quite managing to knock the smirk off his face.

‘Ow! No need for violence, Branson,' Thomas said, with a cheeky grin, smoothing his hair back into place. 'You'd think you'd be a bit more chilled out, the pair of you, what with you being in the honeymoon stage.’

‘Leave them be, Thomas,’ Anna said, slipping into the seat beside him. ‘You’re not helping.’

‘I’m not trying to help,’ Thomas replied, gleefully. ‘This is the most entertainment I’ve had in ages! I’d be daft not to milk it for all it’s worth.’

Mary twisted in her seat and glared at Thomas through the gap in the seats. ‘I can still sack you, you know.’

‘You could, but you won’t,’ said Thomas, confidently, smiling sweetly at her. ‘I’m too good at what I do. And, besides, you love me. You know you do.’

‘I’m rapidly going off you.’

‘Nah, that’ll never happen.’

Mary gave him a look and turned back to sit straight in her seat, putting a hand over her stomach and grimacing.

Next to her, Tom gave her a concerned look. ‘You all right?’

She nodded. ‘Bit queasy. I think it’s that damn pill.’

‘You need to keep it down, Mary, otherwise it won’t work.’

‘I know. I don’t think I’m going to be sick; I just feel nauseous. Let’s hope there’s no turbulence.’

Tom nodded, leaning forward to pull his water bottle and a packet of mints out of his backpack. ‘Here, have some water and one of these. It might help settle your stomach.’

Mary accepted the bottle gratefully and took a swig of cool water, chasing it with a Polo mint. She tipped her head back, resting her arm on the armrest between them. Tom put his hand over hers and squeezed it gently, his brand-new wedding ring right there, taunting her. Mary stared at it, still scarcely able to believe what had happened to them in the last 24 hours.

‘You’re still wearing it. Your ring.’

Tom followed her gaze. ‘Yes.’

‘Why?’

‘I don’t know, really. It didn’t feel right to just take it off.’

‘I took mine off. It’s in my purse.’

‘Okay.’

‘Do you want me to put it back on?’

Tom looked over at her. ‘That’s up to you.’

‘But you’re wearing yours.’

‘I’m a married man,’ he said, with a small smile. ‘I reckon that means something.’

‘Even though it’s not a real marriage?’

‘It is a real marriage. In the eyes of the law.’

Mary stared at him. ‘You know what I mean.’

‘Yes, I know what you mean.’

Mary was silent for a while, her eyes fixed on Tom’s ring. ‘What are we going to tell people when we get home?’

‘We don’t have to tell them anything if you don’t want to.’

Mary snorted. ‘No chance of that happening. Not with motormouth Thomas in on the secret. He’ll blab to everyone the minute he gets home. This is far too juicy for him to keep quiet about.’

‘So, we tell them the truth.’

Mary rolled her head to the side to look at Tom. ‘You want to tell Mama and Papa we got roaring drunk and accidentally got married?’

Tom gazed back at her. ‘What’s the alternative? Do you want to lie to them and tell them we’re in love and deliberately got married without them being there?’

‘Oh, God,’ Mary muttered, closing her eyes briefly. ‘No, of course, not. I just… I still can’t believe this is happening.’

Tom squeezed her hand again. ‘We’ll work it out, Mary. We’ll look into what we need to do to sort this out when we get home. We’ll fix this, I promise.’

Mary opened her eyes and looked at him. If she had to be unwittingly married to anyone, she was glad it was Tom. Calm, kind, thoughtful Tom. She turned her hand over and laced her fingers with his, feeling his wedding ring warm against her skin. She squeezed his hand then closed her eyes as the plane began taxiing to the runway. She was still holding his hand when she fell asleep once they were up in the air.


	4. Chapter 4

‘Hello, darling. How was the conference? Was it worth all that travelling?’

Mary exchanged kisses with her mother, horribly conscious of the anxious knot in her stomach. ‘It was fine, Mama. We heard some interesting ideas we could use to try to make the estate more profitable.’

‘Good, good. I’m glad about that,’ Cora nodded, turning her attention to her son-in-law. ‘Tom, how was the flight? You two must be tired. The jet lag is always worse coming home from the States than going out there.’

‘It’s a killer, Cora, and no mistake,’ Tom said, kissing his mother-in-law’s cheek, ‘but we’re better off trying to stay awake until bedtime. How are the kids? Has Sybbie behaved herself?’

‘Oh, she’s been as good as gold. She’s such a darling.’

Tom grinned. ‘Are you sure about that? I know she has Robert wrapped around her little finger, but if she’s been bold, you must tell me.’

‘No, not at all. She’s been a little treasure. She’s missed you, though. She’s so excited you’re back today. I said you might be able to pick her up from school if you’re not too tired.’

‘I will. I’ve missed her too,’ Tom nodded, smiling at the thought of being reunited with his daughter.

‘And how has my little man been?’ Mary asked, bracing herself for the worst.

‘George has been good too, Mary. Apart from bedtime.’

‘Oh, yes? I bet he was a little horror then, wasn’t he?’

‘Well, let’s just say trying to get him to go to bed is the most stressful part of my day.’

‘Welcome to my world, Mama,’ Mary said, dryly. ‘Where’s Papa? Is he around?’

‘Did I hear my name mentioned?’ Robert said, coming into the library. ‘Mary, Tom, welcome home. Those few days have flown. It doesn’t seem two minutes since you were leaving for the bright lights of Vegas.’

Mary leaned forward to let her father kiss her on the cheek. ‘Hello, Papa.’

‘So, was it worth it then? I still can’t quite fathom how a tourism conference in America can help us make an English stately home more profitable. It’s not like we’re aiming at the same market, is it?’

‘Papa, we’ve been over this. It was a global conference, so there were plenty of speakers there. And we need to think outside the box if we’re to keep things fresh and interesting for visitors here.’

‘It was definitely useful, Robert,’ Tom cut in. ‘We’ve already got a few ideas bubbling away we want to look at developing.’

‘Excellent,’ Robert said, dropping into the chair by his desk, rubbing behind the ears of his ever-present Labrador. ‘I’m glad you found it of use. I confess I did wonder if the attraction was mainly because it was in Las Vegas. I’m guessing the four of you found time for fun as well as work while you were there.’

Tom and Mary exchanged a look, instinctively edging closer to each other.

‘Er, yes, about that,’ Mary began, uncomfortably.

‘Oh, don’t worry, I don’t expect you to give us chapter and verse about that. I know that saying, what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. And I really don’t want to hear about any of Thomas’s exploits.’

Mary cleared her throat nervously. ‘Yes, well, normally I’d be entirely on board with that sentiment, but, er… well, er…’

She trailed off as both of her parents eyed her curiously.

‘What is it, Mary? Come on, spit it out,’ her father said, still stroking the silky ears of his dog.

‘Well, the thing is…' Mary paused, gathering her courage. 'The thing is, something happened in Vegas. Something you probably need to know about. No, something you definitely need to know about.’

‘What? What happened?’ Cora’s eyes skipped between Mary and Tom, worry on her face. ‘What is it, darling? Are you all right?’

‘Yes, yes, I’m fine. I… I…’

‘Mary, you’re scaring me,’ Cora said, her anxiety obviously spiking.

‘I’m sorry, Mama, I don’t mean to scare you. It’s not bad news, exactly, more, well, more surprising news.’

Robert got to his feet, coming to stand by his wife, putting a comforting hand at the small of her back. ‘For God’s sake, Mary, whatever it is, just tell us before your mother starts to hyperventilate.’

Mary opened her mouth, then looked helplessly at Tom. ‘I can’t,’ she said. ‘You tell them.’

Tom reached out and squeezed her arm reassuringly before facing his nervous-looking parents-in-law. ‘Mary and I, well, we went out one night with Thomas and Anna and got drunk. And-‘

‘We got married!’ Mary blurted out.

She watched as her mother’s mouth dropped open in a perfect O while her father frowned at her. ‘Who got married?’ he asked, confused.

‘We did. Us,’ Mary gabbled, waving her hand between herself and Tom.

‘What?’

‘Tom and I got married,’ Mary said, a little slower this time, feeling Tom step up beside her, silently offering her back-up.

Cora dropped heavily onto the sofa, gripping the edge of the seat cushions, staring at them open-mouthed with shock. ‘Married? I didn’t even know you two were seeing each other.’

Mary shook her head, looking back and forth between her parents. ‘We weren’t. I mean, we’re not. It was… it was an accident. We were drunk.’

Her father glared at her. ‘An accident? An accident, she says! Falling off a bicycle is an accident. Tripping up the stairs is an accident. Dropping your ice cream cone on the floor is an accident. Getting married is not an accident! How can you accidentally get married, Mary? Marriage involves consent! You must have known what you were doing! Both of you!’

‘We were drunk, Papa! We don’t even remember doing it!’ Mary cried, imploring him to understand.

‘I’m going to assume you mean getting married when you say ‘doing it’,’ Robert snapped. ‘Tom, you’re not saying much about this. Just how drunk were the pair of you if you can’t remember your impromptu wedding in a Vegas chapel? I mean, how do you even know you are married?’

Tom squared his shoulders, ready to take the brunt of his father-in-law’s anger. ‘Thomas remembers it happening. And we have a marriage certificate. I went to the chapel the next day to see if it was legal.’

‘And is it?’

‘Yes.’

There was complete silence in the room as Robert and Cora tried to take in this development. Mary glanced sideways at Tom. He raised his hand to rub gently at the small of her back, a small comforting gesture, unconsciously mimicking his father-in-law’s action of a few minutes before.

‘I’m sorry, Mama, Papa. I know this is a shock to you. Believe me, it was a shock to us too.’

Robert snorted at that. ‘I simply can’t believe a daughter of mine could do something so stupid!’

Mary stiffened at that, opening her mouth to retort until Tom moved his hand from her back to her hip and squeezed, shaking his head at her when she looked his way.

‘I can’t believe you two are married,’ Cora breathed out.

‘Well, not for long,’ Robert ground out. ‘I assume you’ll be getting it annulled as soon as possible.’

Mary and Tom exchanged another look.

Robert narrowed his eyes at them. ‘What? What now?’

‘I don’t think we can,’ Mary said, reluctantly.

‘Why ever not?’

Mary cast her eyes down, definitely not ready to have this conversation with her parents. Tom looked at her and decided it was down to him to spell it out.

‘We could only get an annulment if the marriage wasn’t consummated,’ he said, seeing Mary’s normally porcelain-hued face flame red out of the corner of his eye.

‘Consummated?’ his father-in-law repeated slowly, his eyes going wide. ‘You’re saying you’ve… the two of you have…’

Tom swallowed hard, refusing to look away. ‘We think so, yes.’

Robert’s eyebrows climbed towards his hairline. ‘You _think_ so? You mean you don’t remember that either?’

‘No,’ said Tom, sheepishly, as Mary shook her head.

‘Then how do you know that…’ Robert abandoned that train of thought as he saw his daughter’s head snap up and look at him, a mixture of horror, embarrassment and pleading on her face. ‘Never mind. I will just have to take your word for that. I really don’t want to know the sordid details.’

He stepped around his wife’s legs and sat down on the sofa next to her, rubbing his hand over his jaw. ‘I can’t believe this. I can’t believe the two of you would be so irresponsible and stupid.’

‘I’m sorry, Papa,’ Mary said, softly, taking a seat on the sofa opposite them. ‘Mama, are you all right?’

Cora looked over at her daughter. ‘I’m… I’m just shocked, Mary.’

Mary nodded, unable to add anything.

Robert switched his gaze between Mary and Tom. ‘So, the only option is divorce then.’

Mary nodded miserably. Tom sat down next to her, reluctantly ready to deliver the next piece of news. ‘We can’t do that either. Not immediately anyway.’

Three pairs of eyes turned to him in surprise.

‘What?’ said Mary. ‘Why not?’

‘We have to be married for a year before either of us can file for divorce,’ Tom said, calmly. ‘I googled it on the plane.’

‘Why didn’t you tell me?’ Mary said, her eyes wide.

Tom shrugged, looking a little guilty. ‘You were asleep.’

There was silence as that little bombshell sank in. Cora broke it first. ‘So, you have to live as husband and wife for a year?’

‘Well, no, we have to be married for a year,’ Tom said, uncomfortably, glancing at Mary. ‘But we don’t have to live as husband and wife. Not in the usual sense. Not unless we choose to.’

Mary glanced sideways at him, wondering at the way he’d phrased that. Tom didn’t look at her, keeping his eyes on his in-laws.

‘Well, then we’ll have to give some consideration to how we handle this,’ Cora said, visibly pulling herself together.

Mary frowned. ‘What do you mean, Mama?’

‘If you and Tom have to remain married for a year, we’ll have to tell people something. I don’t see how we can just ignore it.’

‘We certainly can,’ Mary said, quickly.

‘No, we can’t. We’ll have to tell people and you will just have to go along with it.’

‘What?’ Mary’s voice squeaked embarrassingly as she stared at her mother in disbelief. ‘Are you suggesting we pretend we’re actually married?’

‘You _are_ married, Mary. And we have a number of social engagements and formal obligations to think about. I’d really rather not have them all overshadowed by gossip about my daughter and son-in-law getting so spectacularly inebriated in Las Vegas that they got married despite not previously being in a relationship,' Cora said, looking sternly at them. 'And you will not tell anyone that you don’t remember the happy occasion. When anyone asks you about it – and they will – you will tell them you were so blissfully happy together that you simply couldn’t wait.’

Mary and Tom stared at her, twin expressions of shock on their faces.

‘You… you can’t be serious,’ Mary said, faintly.

‘Oh, I am deadly serious, my girl. Your father is Lord Lieutenant of Yorkshire, and I will not have you embarrassing him in front of his friends and especially not all the snobs in the county and farther afield. And I will not have you spoiling Edith’s wedding with gossip about the two of you.’

‘But… but nobody will believe us,’ Mary said, panic tinging her voice.

Cora snorted dismissively. ‘Of course, they will. You two are practically inseparable these days anyway. I can’t count all the times I’ve been asked if anything is going on between you. I’ve always said no, but I will frame that as the two of you wanting your privacy because of your familial ties. And that’s another thing, people will ask you about how you went from brother and sister-in-law to husband and wife. You’ll have to come up with a convincing story.’

‘No, Mama, you can’t expect us to-‘

‘Oh, but I do.’

‘Cora, is this really necessary?’ Robert put in, a look of concern on his face.

She looked at him, pityingly. ‘Darling, you know it is. You know how vicious some of the tongues out there can be. Mary and Tom have to do this to protect themselves as much as the rest of the family.’

Mary looked over at Tom to see him looking helplessly back at her. ‘Can you… do you… what do you think?’

Tom sighed, weighing up the options. ‘I think Edith and Bertie are getting married in a few weeks and we shouldn’t do anything to spoil that for them. Not after all the ups and downs of getting them to this position in the first place. Maybe we should just do what Cora says.’

‘But we’d be lying!’

Cora softened her tone. ‘Mary, I’m not saying you can’t get divorced in a year’s time-‘

‘Although there’s never been a divorce in the family before,’ Robert interrupted, earning a glare from both his wife and daughter.

‘- but if you and Tom have to stay married for a year anyway,’ Cora continued, ‘then what’s the harm in pretending it’s a real marriage even if it takes everyone by surprise?’

‘What’s the harm?’ Mary squawked. ‘What’s the harm? What if I find someone I actually want to marry? Or what if Tom does? You’re saying we can’t live a normal life because we have to save face for the family?’

‘Well, you can’t marry anyone anyway while you’re married to Tom, so that’s a ridiculous argument!’ Cora flung back.

‘You know what I mean, Mama!’ Mary turned to Tom for support. ‘Tom! Say something. Surely you don’t agree with this.’

Tom rubbed his hand on the back of his neck, thinking about it. ‘We can’t do anything about getting a divorce for a year, Mary. Edith’s wedding is in two months. If we ruin it with a scandal, she will never forgive us.’

Mary glared at him. ‘Me. You mean she’ll never forgive me. Just say it. She’d forgive you, but she’d never forgive me.’ 

Tom locked eyes with her. ‘I think Cora’s right. We have to make the best of it without making life difficult for everyone else. After all, it’s not their fault we’re in this mess. This is all our own doing.’

‘But why can’t we just not tell anyone?!? You can simply take that stupid ring off and no-one will be any the wiser!’

Tom saw Robert and Cora both look at his left hand, seeming to note his new wedding ring for the first time. ‘You know we can’t do that.’

‘Why not?’

‘You said it yourself,’ Tom said, reaching out to take her hand. ‘Thomas knows the truth. If we don’t spin a story and get him on board, then the truth of it will be out there before we know it and Edith’s wedding will be overshadowed by people talking about us.’

Mary stared at him then yanked her hand away. ‘Bloody Thomas Barrow. This is all his fault.’

Her father snorted. ‘I hardly think it's very fair to blame Thomas for you and Tom drunkenly saying ‘I do’ in Vegas.’

‘Maybe not, but I can blame him for his big mouth and his inability to keep it shut,’ Mary said, irritably. She looked around at the three faces staring expectantly at her, her mother, her father and – oh, god – her husband. Her sodding husband. ‘Fine. I’ll do it. I’ll pretend to be Mrs Branson-‘

‘You _are_ Mrs Branson,’ her father muttered. Mary ignored him.

‘- but I won’t lie to Edith and Granny about the situation.’

‘Mary,’ her mother said, warningly.

‘They need to know the truth,’ Mary insisted.

‘No, they don’t,’ Cora said, pleadingly. ‘It will only complicate matters.’

‘Why? Edith will be furious either way. At least if she knows the truth, she’ll know I’m trying to do the sisterly thing to keep her wedding on track.’

‘Well, I'm sure your grandmother doesn't need to know about the circumstances of your marriage and the reason why you can’t get an annulment,’ Robert said, shuddering at the thought. ‘She’s an old lady; I don’t want you giving her a heart attack with the shock of it all.’

Mary harrumphed, eloquently expressing what she thought of that observation. ‘Granny will take it in her stride. She’s seen and heard too much in her time to be shocked by that.’

‘Not from her granddaughter, she hasn’t.’

Mary glared at her parents, feeling completely ganged up on.

Tom nudged her gently, making her look at him. ‘Let’s sleep on it, eh, Mary? Give it some thought.’

‘All right,’ she said, begrudgingly, mildly surprised at the calming influence he had on her. ‘I’ll think about it.’

‘Good, then I think we should park this discussion for now. You two have about an hour to get yourselves sorted before it’s time to go and get the children from school,’ said her mother, before cocking her head to one side. ‘Hmm, that’s another thing.’

‘Oh, what now?’ Mary snapped, a bit more forcefully than she intended.

Cora looked at her, pulling an awkward face. ‘Well, you’re going to have to tell Sybbie and George about the change in your relationship. It will definitely ring alarm bells if your children don’t know you two are now married.’

Mary groaned, sinking back into the sofa, wondering how her life had turned into a soap opera.


	5. Chapter 5

Mary sighed when she heard the knock on her bedroom door. Could she not get a moment’s peace? Even as she called out for whoever it was to come in, she wondered if it was too late to hide under the bed and pretend she wasn’t here.

Tom came in, crossing the floor to stand in front of her, looking at her anxiously. ‘Are you all right?’

Mary sighed. ‘Aside from being railroaded into playing at being married by my own mother you mean?’

Tom bit his lip, a move Mary was startled to discover she found surprisingly endearing. ‘Look, if you really don’t want to do it, we can go back and tell her that.’

She shook her head. ‘If only it were that simple, Tom. As much as it pains me to admit it, Mama’s right. The county is full of gossips who will gleefully pounce on this scandalous marriage of ours and use it to embarrass Mama and Papa. The best thing to do is meet it head on and brazen it out. And, as you pointed out, Edith will most definitely never forgive me if I ruin her big day.’

Tom sat down beside her on her bed, bumping her shoulder. ‘It wouldn’t just be your fault, though. I mean, it’s not like you forced me to marry you, is it?’

Mary gave a rueful laugh. ‘How do you know? For all either of us know, I could have done precisely that. I could have blackmailed you into it.’

Tom grinned. ‘Nah, I don’t think so. A woman like you would never have to blackmail a man into marrying her.’

Mary shot him a surprised look at that comment, wondering where that sentiment had come from.

He continued talking, oblivious to her reaction. ‘Besides, I don’t think you have any dirt on me to use as blackmail material.’

‘Oh, I’m sure I must have if I think hard enough. You can’t be completely perfect.’

Tom’s smile got bigger. ‘Maybe not, but how bad would the dirt have to be to blackmail me into marriage against my will?’

Mary giggled. ‘I’m beginning to think maybe you blackmailed me. I definitely have some skeletons in my closet.’

‘Really? Tell me more.’

‘Absolutely not.’

Tom bumped her shoulder again. ‘Oh, come on, a wife shouldn’t keep secrets from her husband. That’s no way to start married life.’

Mary snorted, playing along. ‘Oh, but, darling, if you knew everything about me, all the mystery would disappear from our relationship and where’s the fun in that?’

‘Maybe the challenge is to get you to want to share your deepest, darkest secrets with me,’ Tom said, his voice dropping slightly lower, making Mary’s stomach unexpectedly flip a little. She slid a glance at him to find him looking back at her, an unexpectedly intense look in his eyes.

‘So, we’re doing this then?’ he asked, a note of apprehension in his voice.

‘It looks very much like we are.’

They sat in silence for a few minutes until Tom reached over and picked up her left hand, rubbing gently at the base of her third finger. ‘Well, in that case, I think I need to get you a ring.’

Mary started, looking at him in surprise. ‘Oh, no, you don’t have to do that, Tom.’

‘I think I do. If we’re going to tell everyone we’re married and front it out for a year, I want to do it properly. Can’t have everyone thinking I’m too much of a cheapskate to buy my wife an engagement ring.’

Mary shook her head. ‘There’s no need. I’m sure I have a ring somewhere I can use.’

Tom squeezed her hand, shaking his head in protest. ‘No, however it’s happened, you’re my wife now, Mary. I want to get you a ring. It’s the right thing to do. Don’t worry, you can come with me and pick it out. I know how particular you can be.’

‘Don’t you think that will be a bit weird? Going to buy an engagement ring together?’

Tom gave a gentle laugh. ‘I think we already hit peak weirdness when we woke up naked and married in Vegas. I’m guessing we can handle going shopping together.’

Mary gazed at him, weighing it up. He was right. Once people knew she and Tom were married, one of the first things they were going to ask was to see her ring. She nodded slowly. ‘All right, but on one condition.’

‘What’s that?’

‘We go halves on it.’

Tom opened his mouth to object, but Mary cut him off.

‘No, Tom, I insist. I have expensive tastes – you know I do – and I’m not going to have you forking out because of that. This is down to both of us. I know you won’t let me buy it myself, so this is the compromise. Okay?’

Tom gazed at her, consideringly. ‘All right. Marriage is all about compromise, I suppose. This can be the first one of ours.’

‘Good.’

‘Right, then, let’s go into York tomorrow and get you an engagement ring.’

‘Maybe we can buy a pregnancy test while we’re out and about away from prying eyes too,’ Mary said, quietly, casting a quick glance over her shoulder at the door to check it was closed. ‘You know, just to be sure that pill worked. I should have thought to get one at the airport, really.’

Tom nodded, slowly. ‘I suppose we should, yes.’

‘But we won’t mention that bit to anyone else.’

‘No. that can stay our little secret.’ Tom paused before speaking again. ‘Do you… have you remembered anything about that night?’

Mary shook her head. ‘Nothing worth writing home about. Twerking and Thomas trying to teach me how to slut drop.’ Mary pulled a face. ‘God, that alone should tell you how absolutely blotto we were. But nothing about the wedding. Have you?’

‘Snippets.’

Mary looked at him in surprise. ‘Like what?’

‘I remember falling on the floor with you. Judging by Thomas’s camera roll, I think that might have been in the chapel after we… after we said ‘I do’. I don’t remember anything else about the wedding itself though.’

‘What about anything else? Do you remember if we… you know… if we slept together?’

Tom shook his head, slowly, a slight blush staining his cheeks. ‘I remember us stumbling into your room and you pulling my shirt off and I remember falling onto the bed and you landing on top of me and a fair bit of snogging, but I don’t remember…’

‘Having sex.’

‘No, but…’ Tom trailed off.

‘But what?’

‘I remember wanting to,’ Tom said, obviously aiming to sound casual but falling short.

Mary swallowed, feeling a flush rising from her chest to her cheeks. ‘Right. Well, if I was pulling your shirt off and kissing you, it looks like you weren’t the only one wanting to do it.’

They sat on the bed, staring at each other, a peculiar tension in the air until Mary shook herself and stood up, breaking the spell.

‘Okay, so York tomorrow then,’ she said, nervously rubbing her hands on her jeans. ‘Well, that should be fun. Perhaps we can go to Rustique for lunch. I know it’s your favourite.’

‘Yes, that would be good,’ Tom said, levering himself off the bed and heading for the door. ‘Right then, I’d better go. Leave you to your unpacking. Do you want to come with me to pick up the kids?’

‘Yes, I will.’

Tom hesitated. ‘I know we have to tell them about… us, but I think maybe we should leave it for tonight. We can tell them tomorrow after we’ve sorted the ring out. Do you agree?’

‘Oh, yes,’ Mary replied, relieved. ‘Yes. I don’t think I can face any more drama tonight.’

‘Okay. That’s what we’ll do. I’ll see you later then. In about half an hour?’ Tom got up and headed for the door, turning round to look at her when he got there.

‘Yes, see you later,’ Mary nodded, suddenly finding it hard to look at him without thinking about what he’d just said about wanting to have sex with her. That was definitely something she needed to think about in her own time.


	6. Chapter 6

Mary gazed at the tray of rings on the counter in front of her. This whole situation felt so surreal. There she was with Tom, one of the people she truly loved the most in the world, but picking out an engagement ring with him, well, it didn’t feel real.

‘So, have you set a date yet?’ said the pleasant girl behind the jewellery counter, a big smile on her face.

Mary looked up at her, at a loss for what to say.

‘Actually, we’re already married. We’re doing things a bit backwards,’ Tom said, with a smile.

‘Really? How come?’ the girl – Laura, according to her name tag – asked curiously.

‘We got married in Las Vegas a few days ago. It was what you might call a spur-of-the-moment decision,’ Tom elaborated, Mary still silent beside him.

‘No! Oh, how romantic! Congratulations! Most people come in here for a ring and they don’t plan on getting married for a year or more. I think you’re the first customers I’ve had who have had a whirlwind wedding. How long have you been together then if you just decided to get married like that?’

Tom glanced at Mary, seeing her looking helplessly at him, and ploughed on. ‘Not that long actually, although we have known each other for a long time.’

Laura flashed a dimpled smile at them. ‘Oh, that’s even more romantic. My mum is always telling me how important it is to have a friendship as a solid basis for a relationship. And that’s what’s happened for you two. How lovely! It just goes to show, doesn’t it, how love can sneak up on you when you least expect it?’

Mary waited for Tom to respond again but Laura’s words seemed to stop him in his tracks.

‘Yes, it certainly does,’ she said, picking up the slack. ‘And it was a real surprise for us, wasn’t it, Tom?’

‘Er, yes. Yes, it was,’ he said, finding his voice again.

‘But what a fantastic surprise!’ Laura said, still caught up with her blissful picture of Tom and Mary’s romance. ‘You do make such a lovely couple. So, is there a ring here that you particularly like?’

Mary looked back down at the rings, the feeling of this not being real hanging over her. ‘There is actually. I rather like that one,’ she said, pointing to a diamond ring in a 1920s Art Deco style setting.

‘Ah, you have exquisite taste. That’s one of our antique rings. Would you like to try it on?’

Mary picked up the ring, slipping it on to her finger.

‘Well, would you look at that?’ said Laura, with yet another bright smile. ‘It fits perfectly. That hardly ever happens. I reckon that’s a sign. It’s meant to be. Just like you two.’

Mary met Tom’s eyes over the diamonds sparkling on her hand. ‘What do you think, Tom?’

He examined the ring, tilting her hand to get a better look at it, then looked back up at Mary. ‘I think it’s beautiful, but it’s up to you. You’ll be wearing it, not me. Do you want to try on some more rings before you decide?’

Mary looked back at the ring. Laura was right, it did fit perfectly. And it was gorgeous. Unusual but classic. Very different from the single solitaire Matthew gave her. But she had the strangest feeling that it was the right ring, the perfect ring for her second marriage. It just felt right on her finger.

‘No, this is the one.’

Laura clapped her hands in delight. ‘Wonderful. Right, well, because you are so lovely, you two, and this ring is definitely meant to be yours, I’ll talk to my manager about giving you my staff discount, and then I’ll work out the price.’

‘Oh, that’s kind of you, but you don’t have to do that,’ Mary said slipping off the ring and handing it back to Laura.

‘No, no, I want to and I’m sure it won’t be a problem. I’ll be back in a sec.’ And with that, Laura picked up the tray of rings and Mary’s new ring and disappeared into the back of the shop.

Mary looked at Tom. ‘Are you sure about this? It’s a lot of money.’

He smiled at her. ‘I’m sure, Mary. Besides, Laura’s wangling us a discount.’

‘And you like it?’ Suddenly and rather inexplicably, Mary felt a need to make sure Tom approved of the ring she was going to wear to symbolise their rather unconventional marriage.

‘I do. It suits you. It looks right on your finger, like it’s meant to be there.’

Mary met his eyes again, not sure what to say to that. Laura saved her by bustling back with pricing details. Once the payment and paperwork were taken care of, Laura held the open ring box out to Tom, the ring nestled inside, the diamonds sparkling beautifully against the black velvet.

‘There, it’s all yours now. I think you should be the one to put it on your lovely lady’s finger, don’t you?’

Tom looked over at Mary as if asking her permission. She nodded at him, feeling her pulse hitch.

He took the ring from the box and reached out for Mary’s left hand. She spread her fingers slightly, watching as he slowly slid the ring onto her wedding finger, pushing it down to fit snugly next to the wedding band she’d retrieved from her purse that morning.

They looked up at each other, gazes locking over the ring.

‘Oh, go on, kiss her,’ Laura said, watching them happily from her side of the counter.

Mary saw the silent question in Tom’s eyes and answered it by leaning in towards him. His lips on hers were soft, the kiss unexpectedly tender. It lasted longer than Mary anticipated but she found herself wanting it to go on for longer when it ended. As they separated, Mary was surprised to find her heart beating that bit harder and new questions about Tom beginning to swim around in the back of her mind.

She looked at him, slightly unsettled by the unforeseen emotions swirling through her. Tom gave her an uncertain smile before squeezing her hand and turning back to Laura, who was, quite predictably, beaming at them.

‘Thank you for all your help, Laura. You’ve been wonderful. And it was so kind of you to give us your discount. We really appreciate it,’ he said, smiling at her.

‘You are very welcome,’ Laura dimpled back at him, putting the ring box, the receipt and the valuation certificate into a gift bag and handing it to him. She looked over at Mary. ‘Oh, he’s gorgeous. Such a charmer. And that accent! To die for. You’ve definitely got a keeper there.’

‘Yes, I have,’ Mary said, thrown by hearing another woman’s assessment of Tom. Normally, she might have teased him about it, but now, well, now things were different. ‘I’m a lucky woman.’

She felt Tom’s eyes on her and found she couldn’t look at him.

‘And he’s a lucky man! Now, you two have a wonderful day. It was lovely to meet you. Goodbye, now!’

Mary tightened her grip on Tom’s hand and pulled him out of the shop, muttering goodbyes. Behind her, she could hear Laura telling her colleague how cute she and Tom were, which was yet another thing to add to the list of surreal things happening to her this week.

‘Mary,’ Tom said as they got out onto the street, with the same look on his face he got when he wanted to discuss something with her in the office that she didn’t want to talk about.

Mary panicked a little, hoping he didn’t want to talk about the kiss they’d just shared. She wasn’t ready for that. She needed to think about it and the unexpected jangle of feelings it had set off inside her before she could talk about it.

‘Right,’ she said, brightly, going for a tactic of distraction. ‘Now we’ve got the main business of the day done, I think it’s time for lunch, don’t you?’

Tom looked at her for a few long seconds. Mary willed him not to say anything.

‘Okay, let’s go eat,’ he said, finally.

‘Good. I’m starving. I was thinking of having the mussels, but now I think I might have the duck instead,’ Mary said, knowing she was babbling, but desperate to talk about anything other than how complicated their relationship was beginning to get. ‘I’ll bet you’ll have the lamb. Or the steak. Maybe the steak, eh? And should we have a starter? Or should we save ourselves for dessert? Or do we go all out and have both? What do you think?’

Tom rolled his eyes at her, a smile on his face. ‘I think you must be really hungry. Come on, then. Let’s go and see if they have a table for us.’

He crooked his arm and held it out towards her. Mary slipped her hand through it, her new ring sparkling in the sunlight, and they set off towards the restaurant, all mention of the kiss in the jeweller’s successfully avoided.


	7. Chapter 7

‘Oh, Mary, that is just stunning. Absolutely gorgeous,’ Cora breathed, holding Mary’s hand up to admire her new engagement ring.

Robert peered over his wife’s shoulder, his eyes widening. ‘My God, Tom, that must have set you back a pretty penny. I didn’t expect you to bankrupt yourself in the name of the family honour, you know.’

Mary glared at her father, getting a retort in before Tom could even open his mouth. ‘We’re going halves on it, Papa, given the situation. Tom didn’t want to, but I insisted.’

‘It’s probably a good job you did. I suspect you could have bought a small car for the amount that probably cost, Tom.’

‘Robert,’ his wife admonished. ‘Don’t be so crass as to talk about money when I’m admiring Mary’s engagement ring.’

‘I’m just saying,‘ Robert grumbled.

‘Well, don’t.’

Robert retreated to a chair, put out by his wife telling him off.

Cora turned her attention back to the newly-weds. ‘I’ve been thinking.’

‘Oh, Lord,’ Mary said, clutching Tom’s arm, dramatically. ‘I dread to think what you’ve been thinking after your last brainwave. Get ready to run, Tom.’

‘Don’t be so cheeky, young lady. If you just let me finish, I’ve been thinking we should probably have a party or at least a dinner party to celebrate your news, that’s all.’

Mary gazed at her mother in dismay. ‘Why on earth would we do that?’

‘Because people will expect it, Mary. As far as anyone else will know, you and Tom had a whirlwind romance and a quick wedding abroad. They will expect us to have a celebration of some kind now you’re home and married.’

‘Mama,’ Mary whined, shaking her head. ‘Why do you keep doing this to us?’

‘I’m not doing anything!’ Cora protested. ‘If it had actually happened like that, that’s exactly what I would have done, and you know it. People will be suspicious if we do nothing and that’s exactly what we’re trying to avoid, isn’t it? We can’t have people wondering if we disapprove of your relationship. We had engagement parties for you and Matthew and for Tom and Sybil and, of course, for Edith and Bertie. Why wouldn’t we mark this occasion too?’

Mary groaned. ‘You’ve already picked a date and drawn up a guest list, haven’t you?

Cora looked a little guilty. ‘I might have. Just to save time.’

‘I knew it.’

‘Well, you really have to start telling people, Mary.’

‘Give us a chance, Mama! We’ve barely been home for 24 hours! And we’ve only been married a day or so longer than that!’

‘Cora’s just thinking ahead, Mary,’ Tom said, soothingly, putting his arm around her shoulders and hugging her to his side. ‘And she’s right, we do need to start telling people.’

‘Oh, yes? And you’ve told your mother and Kieran, have you?’ Mary fired back, shrugging his arm off.

‘No, not yet,’ Tom said, a little defensively. ‘I thought we’d better tell Sybbie and George first.’

Mary subsided a bit then, thinking about how they were going to tell the kids.

‘You know who else you need to tell?’ her mother said, raising her eyebrows meaningfully.

‘The Queen?’ Mary enquired, sweetly.

‘Isobel.’

Mary’s shoulders slumped at the mention of her first mother-in-law.

‘She should hear it from you, Mary, not on the grapevine.’

‘I know, I know. I just… I don’t know how she’ll take it.’

Tom risked putting his arm around her again, only this time she leaned into him. ‘We can tell her together if you want.’

‘The question is what do we tell her? The truth or the version we’re telling everyone else?’ Mary said, gazing up at him. ‘If we tell her the truth, I think it will upset her more than if she thinks we’re actually in love.’

‘If I may just throw my two penn’orth into the hat,’ her father interjected. ‘Whatever you decide to tell Isobel, just remember you’ll have to tell your grandmother the same thing. You know what they’re like. If you give them different stories, the jig will be up the first time they compare notes. And with news like this, you know they will be on the phone to each other the minute you’re out of the door.’

Mary stared at her father in surprise.

‘What?’ he said. ‘Do you disagree?’

‘No, Papa, I think you’re completely right, I’m just surprised you thought about that.’

Robert raised an eyebrow at her. ‘I’m not quite as oblivious to these things as you think I am, Mary. So, what are you going to do? I know you said you wanted to tell Mama the truth about you and Tom.’

Mary bit her lip, moving to sit down on the sofa. She looked up at Tom, her face uncertain. He went over to sit next to her.

‘We’ll tell them whatever you want to tell them,’ he said, running a reassuring hand down her arm.

‘I think… I think we need to give them the Disney version then. I think Isobel would be hurt by the truth. She might feel like I’ve betrayed Matthew’s memory or something.’

Tom nodded. ‘If that’s what you think best.’

‘Well, I hate lying to Granny, but Papa is right that we have to tell them the same thing. I think, for Isobel’s sake, we have to tell them we married for all the right reasons.’

‘Then that’s what we’ll do.’

‘We’ll have to be convincing though. You know Granny, she can sniff out a lie at thirty paces.’

Cora chuckled, drawing the attention of the other three in the room. ‘Oh, I think you’ll be fine. Your grandmother is one of the more persistent enquirers about the state of your relationship. I rather think she’s thought the two of you have been more than friends for some time now.’

Mary stared at her mother in surprise. ‘She has not!’

‘She has. She regularly asks me about you two. There’s an old romantic buried within her, I think.’

‘Well, it must be buried deep. Almost smothered, I should think, because I’ve never seen hide nor hair of it before,’ Robert said, a sceptical look on his face. ‘Mama, an old romantic. Honestly, Cora, I’ve never heard the like. I must remember to tell Rosamund that; she’ll laugh herself silly.’

Cora cast a fond if exasperated glance at her husband before turning back to her daughter and son-in-law to impart some advice. ‘Just do what you usually do but throw in a few more affectionate gestures. You already touch each other a lot, so just hold hands a bit, an arm around the waist or shoulders, maybe a few kisses. Mama will be as happy as Larry and completely convinced you’re madly in love with each other.’

‘What do you mean, we touch each other a lot?’ Mary said, puzzled. ‘I’m sure we don’t. You know I’m not a touchy-feely person, Mama.’

‘No, darling, that’s true in general, you’re not. But you are with Tom. You touch him far more than you do other people and you have done for a while now,’ Cora said, suppressing a smile as she saw her daughter frown at Tom, who simply shrugged in response. ‘I think that’s why Mama already has this idea about you two. You know she has eyes like a hawk. Very little escapes her.’

‘Well, her hawk eyes have led her up the garden path this time.’ Mary said, wryly.

‘And yet you have to convince her she was right,’ her mother responded. ‘And you know how much she loves to be right.’

Mary groaned, glancing at Tom and resting her hand on his knee, patting it gently. ‘Well, husband, you’d better prepare to pucker up. We’ve got our work cut out for us convincing too razor-sharp old ladies that we’re love’s young dream.’

Tom chuckled, sliding his arm around her shoulders again. ‘I’m sure we can manage.’

‘That’s all well and good,’ Robert said, looking at his watch, ‘but your first challenge is telling your children. It’s almost time to do the school run.’

Mary blew out a breath, squeezing Tom’s knee. ‘Right, yes. Let’s go get the two munchkins and give them the good news.’


	8. Chapter 8

Mary kept her hands firmly in her pockets at the school gates, not wanting to risk the other mothers on pick-up duty spotting her rather conspicuous new engagement ring. She knew she’d be interrogated to within an inch of her life if they so much as caught a glimpse of it and she simply wasn’t ready to answer any questions yet.

George appeared first, desperate as ever to get out of school as soon as possible. He spotted her at once and made a beeline for her.

‘Hello, George, did you have a good day?’

‘S’okay. I scored a goal in footie practice in games. Mr Abbott said it was a corker.’

‘Did you? Well done!’ Mary reached out to ruffle his hair, still keeping her left hand firmly wedged in her pocket. ‘Have you seen Sybbie?’

George shook his head. ‘She’s probably chatting. Can I go and tell Uncle Tom about my goal?’

‘Yes, go on. The car’s just over there.’

George barrelled off, his PE kit banging into the back of his legs as he ran to regale Tom with tales of his football prowess. Mary waited another full five minutes before Sybbie ambled out of the school, her coat half-on half-off, laden down with her school bag, her gym kit and what appeared to be about six reusable water bottles.

‘Sybbie! What on earth?’ Mary said, reaching out to take most of the bottles from her. ‘Why have you got all these water bottles?’

‘They’re all mine, Aunt Mary. I just keep forgetting to bring them home. Miss Tate said I had to take them otherwise there was no point and I might as well just use plastic bottles.’

Mary juggled with the bottles, suddenly catching whispers around the playground as her ring sparkled in the afternoon sunshine. She heard her name and panicked, taking hold of Sybbie’s shoulder and hustling her towards the car where Tom and George were waiting.

‘Mary! Mary, wait!’ she heard one of her friends call out to her.

‘Sorry, Kate, can’t talk. We’ve got to get off. We’ll catch up later, I promise,’ she called over her shoulder, grabbing her niece – oh, God, now also her step-daughter! – by the arm and propelling her forward. ‘Come on, Sybbie, stop dawdling and get in the car.’

Sybbie climbed into the back of the car, settling herself in and putting her seatbelt on. Mary threw herself into the front passenger seat, water bottles clasped to her chest.

‘Drive!’ she told Tom, urgently.

He looked at her amused. ‘Is this a getaway? I feel like I’m in a heist movie.’

‘Just bloody drive!’ she repeated as Kate knocked on the window.

Mary gave her a quick smile and a (right-handed) wave, pulling an apologetic face as Tom pulled out into the road.

‘Mummy, you said the B word.’

‘Yes, George, I did. I’m sorry, that was wrong of me.’

‘That’s a pretty ring, Aunt Mary,’ Sybbie said, from behind her. ‘Is it new?’

Mary exchanged a glance with Tom. ‘Yes, darling, it is.’

‘I like it,’ Sybbie said, approvingly.

‘This isn’t the way home,’ George piped up, looking out of the window. ‘Are we going somewhere else?’

‘Yes, we’re going to The Stirred Pot for tea,’ Tom told him, using the rearview mirror to glance into the back seat to see the children’s faces light up.

‘Oh, we love The Stirred Pot!’ Sybbie beamed. ‘How come we’re going there?’

‘We need to talk to you guys about something, so we thought we’d have a bit of a treat,’ Tom answered, waiting to see if the children would ask what they wanted to talk to them about.

He needn’t have bothered because it appeared the most important topic of conversation in the back seat was what they were going to have for tea and whether Mrs Patmore might give them extras.

* * *

‘So, we’ve got something to tell you guys,’ Tom said as George stuck his head into his now empty ice cream bowl and licked it clean.

‘George, don’t do that, darling. It’s bad manners,’ Mary chided her son, ignoring her phone as it buzzed yet again.

‘No, it’s not. Mrs Patmore says it shows how much you’ve enjoyed something when you clean your plate. I love her ice cream, Mummy, so really I’m only letting her know that.’

Mary raised an eyebrow at him. ‘You could just tell her how much you enjoyed it instead of licking the pattern off the crockery.’

‘Mary,’ said Tom, putting his hand over hers. ‘Focus.’

‘Oh, yes, right, of course,’ Mary said, feeling somewhat nervous about telling the children their news. ‘Yes, we have something to tell you.’

‘Is it about your holiday?’ Sybbie asked, dabbing up the crumbs of her brownie with her finger and sticking it in her mouth.

‘It wasn’t a holiday,’ Mary said at the same time as Tom said, ‘Sort of.’

He gave her a look and carried on talking. ‘Something happened while we were away that we need to tell you about.’

‘What happened? Was it something bad?’ Sybbie said, sitting up straighter, an anxious look on her face.

‘No, love, it’s nothing bad. There’s nothing to worry about. It’s just that, well, Aunt Mary and I got married while we were away.’

George stared at his uncle and his mother in turn, his face scrunching up in confusion.

Sybbie frowned at them. ‘You got married?’

‘Yes.’

‘You mean, like, you had a wedding?’ she asked, her frown deepening.

‘Yes.’

‘Without us?’ Sybbie’s frown morphed into a hurt look, her eyes filling with tears and her bottom lip wobbling.

Tom and Mary looked at her in alarm as she started to sob. George speedily distanced himself from his cousin, looking at her as if she'd gone a bit crazy.

‘Sybbie! Oh, love, don’t cry!’ Tom reached out for her, but she shrank back in her chair, crossing her arms over her chest.

‘No, Daddy! How could you have a wedding without me?’ she wailed, attracting attention from the other diners in The Stirred Pot. ‘I could have been a bridesmaid! Like I’m going to be for Aunt Edith!’

Tom cast a stricken look at Mary before turning back to Sybbie. ‘Oh, darlin’, is that what’s upsetting you?’

‘I wanted to be a bridesmaid for you! Tilly was a bridesmaid when her mum got married! And Poppy was a bridesmaid for her mum and dad!' Sybbie hiccupped, tears pouring down her cheeks. 'I wanted to be a bridesmaid for you!’

Tom went round to Sybbie’s side of the table and crouched down next to her, pulling her into his chest. ‘I’m sorry, sweetheart. We didn’t mean to upset you or leave you out, did we, Mary?’

Mary shook her head. ‘Of course not. How about we make it up to you, Sybbie? Granny is planning on throwing a party for me and Daddy soon. How about you and I go into York and buy you the prettiest party dress we can find? We could even get you some new shoes to go with it.’

Sybbie sniffed, lifting her tear-stained face from her father’s shirt and looking across at her aunt. ‘Can we? Do you promise?’

‘Cross my heart,’ Mary said, tracing the shape across her chest while Tom smiled gratefully at her.

‘Okay,’ said Sybbie, sitting up straighter and smiling again.

Tom nudged her to get her to look at him and swiped his fingers under her eyes, brushing away the tears. ‘All right now?’

‘Yes. But next time, I want a proper bridesmaid dress.’

‘Next time?’

‘Well, if you get married again, Daddy,’ Sybbie said, patting his face gently before looking over at Mary. ‘Or you do, Aunt Mary.’

Mary pressed her lips together to stifle her grin and tried to nod solemnly. ‘It’s a deal.’

‘Right, I’d better go and pay the bill,’ Tom said, standing up. ‘Sybbie, do you want to come with me and we can get some cakes to take home for Donk and Granny?’

Sybbie scrambled out of her seat, stuck her hand in his and dragged him towards the counter. ‘Can we get some cakes for us too? We might get peckish again later.’

Mary watched them go before turning to her son. ‘What about you, George? Are you all right about me and Uncle Tom getting married?’

George looked up at her and shrugged. ‘I don’t think it will be any different, Mummy. Uncle Tom’s always around anyway.’

‘And you’re okay with that?’

George looked puzzled by the question but gave her a big smile. ‘Of course, I am. I love Uncle Tom. I didn’t know he was your boyfriend though.’

‘No,’ said Mary. ‘Neither did I.’

‘What?’

‘Nothing.’

George looked over at where Tom was watching Sybbie point to what appeared to be a large number of different cakes. ‘Mummy?’

‘Yes, darling?’

‘Does this mean I can call him Dad now?’

Mary felt her heart clench. She put her hand on George’s head and smoothed his hair down. ‘Do you want to call him Dad?’

George shrugged again, still looking at Tom, quite obviously trying very hard not to show how much it would mean to him. Mary felt a huge rush of love for her boy sweep through her.

‘Why don’t you ask him, sweetheart? I’m sure he’d be very happy and proud for you to call him Dad.’

George nodded, a little smile lighting up his face. ‘Okay, I will.’

Mary blinked back a few rogue tears and wrapped her arm around George, pulling him into a hug and bending her head to drop a kiss on his cheek.

‘Muuuuummmmmy! Stop it, you’re wetting me!’ he whinged, but he hugged her back anyway.


	9. Chapter 9

Mary was sitting up in bed scrolling through her Twitter feed when the knock came on her door.

‘Come in,’ she called.

Tom pushed his head around the door. ‘You decent?’

‘I’d hardly have said come in if I wasn’t, would I?’

‘Do you mind if I come in and talk to you for a bit?’

‘Of course, I don’t,’ Mary said even as she felt her heart rate pick up as she wondered what he wanted to talk to her about.

Tom came over and sat on the unused side of the bed. ‘George asked me if he could call me Dad tonight.’

Mary nodded. ‘What did you say?’

‘I said yes, of course.’ Tom cocked his head at her. ‘You don’t seem very surprised. Did you know he was going to do that?’

‘He asked me at The Stirred Pot and I told him to ask you. Are you okay with it?’

Tom blew out a breath. ‘Yes. I mean, I wasn’t expecting it, but I love the lad, you know I do. If he wants me to be his dad, I’m more than happy to be that for him. In fact, I was so touched when he said it, to know that he thinks of me like that. And the look on his little face, Mary.’

‘I know.’

‘But it just… well, it just hit me. What we’re doing. You know, when Cora said we should tell everyone this is the real thing, I just thought it’s a little white lie - ’ Tom paused, when he caught sight of Mary raising her eyebrows ‘ - okay, maybe not a _little_ white lie, but I thought we wouldn’t be hurting anyone. But then George is asking me to be his dad and now I’m thinking what awful parents are we to be lying to our kids like this?’

Mary reached out to take hold of his hand, squeezing it tight. ‘We’re not awful parents.’

‘But a year from now, when we’re going through a divorce, what then? George suddenly thinks he doesn’t have a dad again? How is that right or fair? He doesn’t deserve that,’ Tom said, his accent getting thicker the more agitated he got.

Mary shifted onto her knees moving closer to him, pulling her hand out of his to cup his face and make him look at her. ‘Tom, it’s all right.’

‘No, it’s not! It’s not all right!’

‘It is because it doesn’t matter what happens in a year, you’re George’s dad _now_. He wants you to be his dad and that’s what you’ll always be to him,’ Mary said, earnestly, keeping her eyes locked on Tom’s. ‘I mean, to all intents and purposes, you’ve been his dad for his whole life already. You’ve always been there for him. You taught him to swim, you take him to football practice, you help him with his homework far more than I do. You’re already his dad.’

Tom stared at her, his eyes filled with emotion. ‘Do you really think that?’

‘Yes, I do. And I think George already thinks that too. He just wants to be able to actually call you Dad. And whatever happens with us, that won’t change. I won’t let it change. Maybe we’ll be getting divorced in a year, maybe we won’t, but if we are, it won’t be because we hate each other’s guts, will it? My son loves you and you love him. I won’t do anything to jeopardise that and I don’t think you will either.’

Tom gazed at her, then his eyes dropped to her lips, and the next thing Mary knew they were kissing each other. A proper kiss, not a brief peck, and definitely not a one-sided kiss. She felt Tom slip an arm around her, pulling her into him as she slid her hands into his hair.

They broke apart abruptly when Mary pulled back to sit on her heels. Tom gazed at her cautiously.

‘Well, that was unexpected,’ she said, flustered.

‘Yes,’ he said, although Mary had a sneaking feeling he wasn’t as surprised by the kiss as she was.

She moved away to sit back on her side of the bed, casting quick glances at Tom, unable to hold his gaze.

‘Do you want me to go?’ he asked her, quietly.

Mary looked at him then. She shook her head, realising that, no, she didn’t want him to leave. She wasn’t ready to kiss him again, but she didn’t want him to go.

‘No. I think while you’re here and we’re not likely to be interrupted, we probably need to agree on our backstory.’

Tom raised an eyebrow at her. ‘Our backstory?’

‘Yes. You don’t think we can tell people we got married out of the blue and not expect them to have questions, do you? We need to be singing from the same hymn sheet or they’ll rumble us straight away.’

‘Okay. So, what? We’re inventing a romance then?’

‘Yes, more or less. We need to map it all out.’

‘Do I need to go and get a pen and paper?’ Tom said, teasing her.

Mary smiled at him, relaxing a bit. She reached over to the bedside cabinet beside her and picked up a notebook and pen. ‘It just so happens that I have some here.’

‘Why do you have a pen and paper next to your bed?’

‘Because sometimes I remember things in the middle of the night or have a brilliant idea for work and I don’t want to forget it.’

Tom grinned at her. ‘It’s the 21st century, Mary. Just type it into your phone or make a voice note.’

Mary pursed her lips at him. ‘Is that what you do, Tom? You shouldn’t, you know. You shouldn’t use your phone in bed. The blue light from the screen is very bad for you. It interrupts your sleep cycle. That’s why I have a pen and paper on hand.’

Tom chuckled. ‘You were sitting in bed looking at your phone when I came in!’

‘That’s different,’ she protested. ‘I hadn’t switched the light off yet.’

‘Well, don’t you have to switch the light on to write things down? Doesn’t that disturb your sleep too? If you put your phone on night mode, you won’t get the bright light.’

‘You can put your phone on night mode?’ Mary said, surprised.

‘You’re such a Luddite,’ Tom said, fondly. ‘I’ll show you how to do it if you want.’

‘Maybe later,’ Mary said, clicking the top of her pen. ‘For now, we have to pad out our whirlwind romance. I was thinking maybe we’ve been together for six months.’

‘Okay. Why six months?’

‘Well, because three months is an indecently short amount of time to be together before suddenly getting married –‘

‘If three months is indecent, what’s three hours? Downright filthy?’ Tom said, a smirk on his face.

Mary felt a blush stealing across her cheeks. ‘Yes, and I blame you for that entirely. I’m going to tell everyone it was your idea for us to tie the knot.’

‘Okay, that seems fair,’ Tom nodded. ‘And it kind of fits with what Thomas said.’

‘Exactly. The trick of a good lie is to keep it as close to the truth as you can.’

‘Is that so?’

‘It is. So, six months. That seems plausible, don’t you think? That we could have been seeing each other on the quiet for six months without anyone working it out? Not if we were being discreet.’

‘Yes, I suppose so.’

‘Any longer and I think it would be a bit unbelievable. So, first date? You asked me, of course.’

‘Of course.’

‘And where did we go?' Mary wondered aloud, tapping her pen on her notebook. Her eyes widened as she suddenly remembered something. 'Oh, hang on. Weren’t we in London six months ago for that tourism awards thing? Maybe we went out somewhere in London. That would make sense as to why no-one knew.’

Tom pointed his finger at her as an idea came to him. ‘Why don’t we say we hooked up the night of the awards then?’

Mary looked at him, scandalised. ‘Hooked up? We can’t say that! People will think we slept together!’

Tom laughed at that. ‘Mary, we’re supposed to be married. I’m pretty sure people will take it as read that we’ve been sleeping together for a while. You can’t get all coy about it.’

‘I can if they think I slept with you on the first date! I’m not that kind of a girl, Tom!’

‘Well, that’s good to know, but it’s not like I’m some stranger you went to bed with three hours after meeting me. If we tell people we hooked up at the awards, they’ll think we’d been attracted to each other for a while and gave into our feelings when we were drunk. You said yourself we should keep it as close to the truth as we can. We’ll just substitute London six months ago for Vegas four days ago.’

Mary gazed at him, mulling that over. ‘I suppose so. What about Thomas and Anna, though? They were at the awards too.’

‘They were,’ Tom agreed, ‘but they don’t know what we got up to after we went back to the hotel. We could have shagged all night and they wouldn’t be any the wiser. If I remember rightly, my room wasn’t on the same floor as any of yours, so if they ask, we can say that’s where we were.’

Mary snorted, colour heating her cheeks. ‘Thomas will ask. And if we were in your room, he’ll think I must have come to you and thrown myself at you.’

‘And do you mind if he thinks that?’

‘No, not really. I’ll spin him some tale that paints me as the best seductress you’ve ever seen. You were putty in my hands, completely incapable of resisting me.’

‘I’m sure I was,’ Tom said, softly, smiling at her.

Mary gazed at him, feeling her heart beat a little faster, before looking back down at her notebook. ‘Yes, well, I think that idea actually covers a multitude of sins. First kiss, first time sleeping together.’

‘Not the first proper date, though. I would have taken you on a date after our awards hook-up.’

‘Okay, where?’

Tom thought for a minute. ‘The Black Swan at Oldstead. You love that place.’

‘Oh, I do,’ Mary said, looking impressed. ‘That’s a very fancy first date, Tom, taking me to a Michelin-starred restaurant.’

‘Only the best for my girl.’ Tom hesitated, looking at her carefully before carrying on. ‘I could take you there if you like. Married people do date nights these days, don’t they?’

Mary looked up from her notebook, a slow smile spreading across her face. ‘So I’m told. And I think we deserve a little treat, don’t we? A little time to ourselves after all the madness of the last few days. All right, yes, let’s do it.’

Tom grinned. ‘Okay then, I’ll book us a table.’

‘I’m beginning to think you’re a bit of a romantic, Tom.’

‘I have my moments.’

‘You’re also something of a genius. Aside from it being a perfect first date, do you know why else The Black Swan is a brilliant idea?’

‘Why?’

‘Because Tommy Banks is Thomas’ celebrity chef crush. He loves him. He’s forever suggesting we get him in to cater dinners at the Abbey. He will be jealous as hell that you took me to his restaurant on a first date. I consider that a bonus!’

‘Good. I’m always happy to wind Thomas up. So, what else do we need to cover off?’

Mary tapped her pen against her lips, thinking about it. ‘Um, I think we might be all right after that. We’ve been to the cinema together, the theatre, other places for dinner over the last six months. Longer even. We can point to all of them as dates if anyone asks.’

She paused, thinking about all the times she and Tom had actually spent together, just the two of them. ‘Well, that’s… I’d not actually thought of it like that, but well.’

‘What?’

‘Nothing, it’s just that when I think about it, it’s almost like… well…’

‘Like we’ve been going on dates without realising it?’ Tom said, softly, holding her gaze.

Mary blinked, somewhat thrown by this revelation. ‘Yes, exactly that.’

Tom nodded. ‘Well, you did say to stick to the truth as much as we can. So, that’s a good thing, isn’t it?

‘Yes, I suppose it is, yes,’ Mary nodded, still reeling a little from that idea.

There was silence for a couple of minutes before Tom spoke again. ‘So, tomorrow. I think maybe we should go and see Isobel. The longer we’re home, the more the news is going to get out, and we really need to tell her before the jungle drums start beating.’

‘They’ve already started,’ Mary said, picking up her phone and waggling it at him. ‘The vultures caught sight of my ring at the school gates. I’ve already started getting texts asking me about it. “Was that an engagement ring, Mary?”, “Are you getting married, Mary?”, “Why didn’t you tell me you were seeing someone, Mary?”, "Have you got a new man, Mary?", “What’s his name, Mary?” They’re already clamouring for all the details.’

‘At least they don’t know the full story. As long as they don’t know you’re already married, they can’t spill that to Isobel.’

‘No, and no-one knows you are my mystery man yet either, so there’s no chance of them letting that slip.’

‘So, you haven’t replied to any of them yet?’

‘God, no! The longer I leave it, the more time I buy us to live in peace for a bit longer.’

Tom grinned. ‘I hate to tell you this, Mary, but we’ve got another school run tomorrow.’

‘Maybe Mama will do it for us tomorrow. Especially if we tell her we’re off to see Isobel.’

‘There’s only one problem with that.’

‘What?’

‘Sybbie and George now know. You know all your mummy friends are going to get their kids to ask one of them what’s going on and we can’t expect the children to lie.’

Mary dropped her head back against the headboard. ‘Ugh, why is this so complicated?’

Tom chuckled. ‘Because we’re doing this all cock-eyed instead of in the normal order of things.’

‘God, you can say that again.’

‘Right, so how about we make our debut as husband and wife at the school gates tomorrow afternoon, drop the kids off with Cora, then head over to Merton Park to let Isobel know our news? That way we can probably get to her before anyone else.’

Mary nodded. ‘Yes, that sounds like a plan.’

‘There’s just one other thing,’ Tom said, looking at her a bit hesitantly.

Mary eyed him warily. ‘What’s that?’

‘Well, if George is going to start calling me Dad, what should Sybbie call you?’

Mary was silent, staring back at Tom, not quite sure what to say to that. ‘I… I hadn’t actually thought about that. Even after George’s question today. I suppose that’s up to Sybbie.’

‘Would you mind if she wanted to call you Mummy?’ he said, carefully. 'I mean, it’s a bit different for you than for me. Matthew was my friend, yes, but Sybil was your sister. If it will make you uncomfortable, I can try to find out what she’s thinking and steer her away from it.’

Mary shook her head, instantly recoiling from that suggestion. ‘No, Tom, that’s not fair. I’m not going to make her carry on calling me Aunt Mary if she wants to call me Mummy. Not when George gets to call you Dad. No, as weird as it might be for me at first – and for Mama and Papa, I suspect – it’s got to be Sybbie’s decision. She might not want to call me Mummy, but if she does, I won’t object.’

Tom nodded. He reached out to take her hand and squeeze it. ‘Thank you.’

‘Has she said something to you?’

‘No, but she might when she hears George calling me Dad.’

‘You don’t think she’ll mind sharing you with him, do you?’

Tom thought about that for a moment, picturing his kind, sweet, thoughtful daughter. ‘No, I don’t. They’re already like brother and sister. I don’t think it will bother her at all.’

‘Good, I’m glad,’ Mary paused, thinking about it. ‘Goodness, look at the four of us becoming a little family.’

Tom smiled at her. ‘We were already a little family, Mary. I just don’t think we’d realised quite how much. All that’s changed really are the labels.’

Mary gazed at him, feeling a wave of affection flood through her, studded with other feelings she wasn’t quite sure how to define yet.

‘Well, on that note, I think it’s time to call it a night. It looks like we have another busy day ahead of us tomorrow. Do you know, Tom, I’m actually looking forward to when everyone knows our secret. All this planning and anticipating is quite exhausting.’

‘I’ll say goodnight then. Let you get your beauty sleep,’ he said, leaning forward to kiss her cheek.

Mary turned her head quickly so his kiss landed on her lips instead. She smiled shyly at him as he drew back, looking surprised. ‘I think we can move on from a kiss on the cheek seeing as we’re married now. In fact, I think we’re going to have to get used to kissing each other if we’re going to sell this marriage to our audience.’

‘I suppose we are,’ he said, slowly.

Mary licked her lips, looking at him, her gaze steadier than her heartbeat. ‘We’ve got to convince people we’re in love, Tom, enough in love for a whirlwind Vegas wedding. So, let’s make a deal. If you think the situation calls for it, just touch me or kiss me like you would if we were normal newly-weds.’

‘Are you sure?’

‘Yes. Don’t look at me like you’re asking permission like you did in the ring shop today. Granny, Isobel and a hundred other people will see that hesitation straight away. Just do it. And I’ll do the same.’

‘Right. Okay. If you’re sure,’ he said, an unreadable look in his eyes.

Mary nodded, her heart fluttering in her chest. ‘I’m sure. Are you all right with that?’

Tom gave a decisive nod as if making up his mind about it, then held out his hand. ‘It’s a deal.’

Mary took his hand, shaking it to seal the deal, looking at his fingers and suddenly finding herself wondering what they might feel like on her skin. ‘Deal,’ she whispered, trying to push that thought away.

'Well, goodnight, Mary. Sleep tight,' Tom said, pushing off the bed and heading for the door.

'Goodnight, Tom,' Mary replied, watching him go and wondering what stresses the next day would bring. 

Tom stopped at the door and turned to face her again. 'Earlier, when we were talking about George, you said we might not be getting divorced in a year. Do you really think that?'

Mary gazed at him, feeling her heart rate pick up again. 'Well, who knows? We don't know what the future will bring. Stranger things have happened. Just look at this last week.'

Tom gazed back at her, nodding thoughtfully. 'I suppose we don't. Neither of us saw this coming, did we? Well, sweet dreams. I'll see you in the morning.'

Mary raised her hand in silent farewell as Tom finally slipped out of the door, closing it behind him. After the last few days, she couldn't predict anything further than what she would have for breakfast in the morning, let alone whether she and Tom might still be married in a year's time. But, strangely, the thought that they might didn't throw her into a panic like she thought it might have. That was something else to put on the list of things she needed to think about.


	10. Chapter 10

Thomas swanned into the office the next day in his cycling gear, pulling his helmet off his head to see Anna perched on Mary’s desk, admiring the ring on her finger.

‘What’s all this then?’ he said, dumping his stuff at his own desk and striding up to them.

‘Mary’s got an engagement ring,’ Anna said, smiling broadly at him. ‘Isn’t it beautiful?’

‘Give us a look then.’ Thomas took hold of Mary’s hand, eyes going wide at the sight of her ring. He whistled then looked over at Tom, sitting at his desk, watching proceedings. ‘Bloody hell, Tom, if I’d known you were this generous to your women, I might have made a play for you myself.’

Tom chuckled. ‘You’d have had no chance, mate. I know where you’ve been.’

Thomas stuck his tongue out at him and returned his attention to Mary’s new sparkler. ‘Well, it’s gorgeous, babe. It might slow down your tweeting, though, the weight of that thing.’

Mary rolled her eyes at him and extracted her hand from his grip.

‘So, you’re staying married then?’ Thomas enquired. ‘I mean, it was all so sudden and, Mary, you were properly losing your shit about it the next day, so I did wonder.’

Mary and Tom exchanged a look.

‘Yes, of course, we are. But we do need to ask a favour of you both,’ Mary said, leaning forward in her chair looking at Anna and Thomas earnestly.

‘Oh, yes? What’s that then?’ Thomas asked, crossing his arms over his chest, eyeing them both suspiciously.

‘We need you to not tell people that we don’t really remember the wedding.’

‘Eh? You're joking! But that’s the best part of the story!’ Thomas protested. ‘And I might have already told Richard.’

‘I’ve told John too,’ Anna said, looking a touch guilty. 'Sorry, I didn't know it was supposed to be a secret.'

‘Well, okay, we should have expected that, but if you could not say anything to anyone else and ask Richard and John not to either, that would be great,’ Tom said, jumping in as Mary frowned and opened her mouth to say something he was positive would have been a bit unfair.

‘But why? It’s funny! It’s the kind of story you should be telling your grandkids!’ Thomas said, a slight whine in his voice.

‘Lord and Lady Grantham are worried that it won’t play well with their society friends, so we’ve agreed to say it was a sudden decision, but we’ll leave out the bit about us being smashed and not remembering it,’ Tom explained. Seeing Thomas’s unimpressed look, he hurried on, expanding on the reasoning. ‘But the biggest reason is that they’re worried about gossip overshadowing Edith’s wedding in a few weeks,’

Thomas rolled his eyes, only for Anna to elbow him in the ribs. ‘Well, I can see how they might be worried about that. And we wouldn’t want to spoil Edith’s big day, would we, Thomas?’

‘S’pose not,’ he said, grudgingly. ‘Okay then, my lips are sealed.’

‘Do you promise?’ Mary said, a definite warning in her voice. 'This is important.'

Thomas batted his eyelashes at her. ‘I do. Cross my heart and all that. Soul of discretion, me.’

‘Hmmm,’ Mary said, narrowing her eyes at him. ‘You’d better be. You know Edith, Thomas. She will throw a fit if anything threatens her plans for a perfect wedding.’

‘I won’t breathe a word, I promise. Right, well, I don’t know about you lot but I’ve got things to do. Marketing campaigns to plan, gossip to get to the bottom of, that kind of thing.’ He paused, casting a meaningful look at Tom and Mary. ‘That means getting the lowdown on you two and your top-secret affair by the way. I’m off to get changed first, though. I know the sight of me in my Lycra drives you all wild, but I can’t lounge around looking like a delectable sportswear model all day.’

‘Oh, get on with you, you fool,’ Anna giggled, pushing him towards the door as Mary rolled her eyes. ‘You’re talking to two newly-weds and a happily married woman. No-one’s looking at you in your Lycra.’

‘Your eyes are glued to my pert little arse, Batesy, and you know it,’ Thomas said, wiggling his bum as he bent to pick up his bag. ‘I’m a proper treat for you, a right feast for your eyes. I’m a juicy steak compared to the past-its-best hamburger you’ve got at home.’

Anna slapped Thomas on his pert little arse as she shoved him out of the door. ‘You keep badmouthing my John and I’ll put salt in your tea instead of sugar. Go on, keep it up, and see if I don’t. I dare you.’

Mary and Tom watched them go, still bickering gently.

‘Looks like things are back to normal in the office, then,’ Tom said with a grin.

‘As long as they do keep their mouths shut. I have no doubt Anna will, and I know John and Richard are discreet. It’s Thomas I worry about,’ Mary said, a slight frown creasing her face. ‘You do know he’s going to be like a dog with a bone asking all about us, don’t you?’

‘I know, but we’re prepared for that. It’ll be fine, love. To be honest, if he lets anything slip after Edith’s wedding, it doesn’t really matter, does it? We just have to get through the next couple of months. People will have moved on to something else soon enough.’

Mary looked over at him, struck by the fact that he’d called her love, something he’d never done before.

‘They just seem to accept that we’re together,’ Mary said, pensively, leaning back in her chair.

‘Well, they were at our wedding. And both of them have more memories of it than we do.’

‘No, I mean, aside from the wedding. The thought of us being together doesn’t seem to throw either of them. They don’t question it. They don’t think it’s strange.’

‘No, apparently not,’ Tom agreed, watching her face.

‘And apparently Granny thinks we’ve been…’ Mary searched for the right word, ‘…involved for a while.’

‘So it seems.’

Mary looked over at him, meeting his eyes. ‘Why do you think that is? That they're not surprised.'

‘Maybe they see something we don’t,’ Tom said, carefully. ‘A spark of some kind.’

Mary gazed at him, her eyes drifting down to his lips then back up to meet his eyes again, taking careful note of the slight flush appearing on his cheeks. ‘Maybe.’

Tom opened his mouth to say something else, only to be interrupted by Anna coming back in with a tray of mugs in her hands.

‘Right, we need to get some more sugar. You know what Thomas is like if he doesn’t get his sugar fix. It’s like the world is ending and I don’t know about you two, but I haven’t got the energy to deal with his drama today. I’m still a bit jet-lagged,’ she said, putting the tray down and handing Tom a mug.

Mary took her tea, muttering her thanks with her eyes still on Tom. He looked over at her with a small smile then turned to his computer screens, clicking on his mouse. She couldn’t help but wonder what he had been about to say. Maybe she’d ask him later, once her heart had stopped tripping in that strange way.

Thomas bustled back in a few minutes later, properly dressed, and picked up his mug to take a long pull on it.

‘Ah, you do make a decent brew, Batesy, I’ll give you that. Now, to the main business of the day,’ he said, perching on his desk, tea still in hand, focusing his attention on Mary and Tom. ‘So, exactly how long have the two of you been shagging on the quiet then?’

‘Thomas!’ Anna said, reprovingly.

‘Oh, what?’ he said, sparing her a glance before focusing back on his quarry. ‘It’s not like you’re not gagging to know too. Might as well be up-front about it.’

Mary slid a glance at Tom, who simply grinned at her. ‘About six months,’ he said.

‘ _Six months?_ Six months and I never picked up on it? I’m slipping. My powers are waning, they must be. Did you know about any of this, Anna?’

‘No, not a thing,’ Anna said, swinging slightly in her swivel chair. ‘But then you two have always spent a lot of time together, so maybe that’s why we didn’t cotton on.’

‘So, come on, then. Details. Give us the gory details. How did it all start? Who came on to who first?’ Thomas said, obviously determined to get the full story.

‘Tom made the first move,’ Mary said, looking directly at Thomas in the hopes of making the lie stick.

‘Did he, indeed?’ Thomas said, casting a surprised look at Tom. ‘And I’d have laid money on it being you, Mary.’

‘What? Why?’ Mary said, not sure whether she ought to be insulted by that.

‘Because you’re more forceful about grabbing what you want than our Tom is. But go on.’

‘We were at that awards do in April –‘

‘The one in London?’

‘Yes. That’s where it started.’

Thomas frowned at her. ‘But me and Anna were at those awards too. I don’t remember you two being any handsier than usual that night.’

Mary faltered, but Tom cut in smoothly. ‘That’s because it all happened in my room after the do itself.’

‘Your room?’

‘Yes.’

‘Well, hang on a minute, that means technically Mary made the first move if she came to your room.’ Thomas said, grinning triumphantly. ‘I knew it!’

‘He kissed me first!’ Mary said, indignantly, forgetting about her plan to portray herself as the great seductress and that the whole thing was a big fat lie anyway.

‘Yeah, but you went to his room, you saucy little minx! If that’s not a come-on, I don’t know what is.’

‘That’s true, Mary,’ Tom said with a sly grin. Mary glared at him. ‘But it doesn’t matter because I was putty in your hands, wasn’t I?’

Mary’s lips twitched into a smile. ‘Yes, you were. Very much so.’

‘Oh, aye? Steady on, tiger,' Thomas said, waggling his eyebrows lasciviously. 'All right, we get it. It was shag central in Tom’s room that night. How come you didn’t say anything the next day?’

‘Why on earth would we? I don’t feel the need to keep you updated on my love life, Thomas. Besides, things were a bit awkward at first.’

Thomas gave a delighted laugh. ‘Oh, I bet they were. I bet that made for an awkward dinner or two up at the big house. One minute, you’re BFFs and in-laws, the next you’ve been bumping uglies and know what each other’s bits look like. I can imagine that took a bit of getting used to.’

Mary felt herself blush and tried not to look at Tom. ‘Yes, well, you could say that.’

‘But you obviously liked it enough to keep doing it.’

‘Obviously,’ Mary said, stiffly. ‘But that’s why we kept it quiet, you know, with Tom being my brother-in-law. We weren’t sure how people would react.’

‘Oh, Mary, that’s so sad that you two felt like that,’ Anna put in, her face creased with sympathy. ‘We all thought the world of Sybil and Matthew, but we wouldn’t have thought badly of you for falling in love with each other, would we, Thomas?’

‘No. We might have had a good old gossip about it, but it’s not like you’re cheating on anyone, is it?’

‘No, I suppose not, but not everyone might have felt that way about our relationship,’ Mary said, touched by their reaction.

‘What did your ma and pa say when you told them then? Were they all right about it?’ Thomas asked, curiously.

Mary glanced at Tom and he picked up the story. ‘We didn’t tell them. They didn’t know about us. Not until we got back from Vegas.’

Thomas stared at him in astonishment. ‘What? You mean they didn’t know until the other day? Until after you were married?’

‘No.’

Thomas started to laugh. ‘Oh, you two are priceless! You’re worried about Lord and Lady G reacting badly to you two shagging, so you just drop a Vegas wedding on them instead? Talk about diving in at the deep end!’

‘Yes, we probably could have handled it better,’ Mary said, ruefully.

‘That’s the understatement of the year!’ Thomas said, still laughing. ‘So, nobody knew then? Nobody at all?’

‘No, nobody.’

‘Bloody hell, I take my hat off to you both. Six months and nobody found out. _I_ never found out. You’re like shagging ninjas or something. I mean, didn’t you go on dates or anything? Have you just stuck to the boudoir all this time?’

‘No, we’ve been on dates,’ Mary said, desperately trying to stop Thomas continually talking about her and Tom shagging.

‘Oh, yeah? Where?’ Thomas challenged. ‘First date, where was it?’

Mary grinned, silently thanking God that she and Tom had hashed out the details the previous night. ‘The Black Swan at Oldstead.’

That stopped Thomas in his tracks. ‘Piss off! No way!’

‘Way,’ Mary said, smugly. She knew that had been a good idea.

Thomas looked at Tom with new respect. ‘You took her to The Black Swan for your first date? Fuck me, I really should have made a play for you.’

Tom laughed. ‘You’ll have to tell Richard to up his game.’

‘Was Tommy there? Did you talk to him?’

‘Yes, he was,’ Mary said, borrowing the story from the time she and Tom had actually had dinner at the Black Swan and met the chef. ‘He came to our table and spoke to us. He’s so nice, so friendly.’

Thomas groaned. ‘Oh, stop. Stop. I get it. It was the perfect first date. The bloody Black Swan with bonus Tommy Banks thrown in. Honestly, Tom, you’re killing me here. I’d have shagged you after that too.’

Tom pulled a face at that even as both Anna and Mary cracked up.

Thomas suddenly thought of something else. ‘Wait a minute. The morning after your wedding, Mary, you were mad as hell at me for not stopping you. If you two are so loved up, why were you so pissed off about it?’

Mary froze, darting a glance at Tom, who looked equally blindsided. Why on earth hadn't they anticipated this question last night?

‘Well, because we hadn’t really discussed marriage, so it was all a bit of a shock. Plus, you know, it’s not ideally how I would have done it if we’d planned it,’ she improvised, feeling proud of herself for coming up with a plausible answer on the spot. ‘I mean, Vegas isn’t the classiest of venues or the most romantic, and it has only been six months after all.’

Thomas nodded slowly, considering that. ‘I suppose that explains why Tom was all, “It’s not a spur-of-the-moment thing, I love her”,’ he said, mimicking Tom’s Irish accent. ‘If you’d been banging for six months, it wasn’t a totally new thing.’

Out of the corner of her eye, Mary saw Tom go completely still, colour stealing across his face. That was interesting.

‘Well, I’m very happy for you both. I’ve always thought you’d make a lovely couple,’ said Anna, beaming at them both.

‘Have you?’ said Mary, surprised by that.

‘Oh, yes. You’ve always just fit together so well, been so in sync with each other since you’ve both been on your own. Now that I think about it, it doesn’t really surprise me that this has happened.’

‘Doesn't it?’ Mary said, taken aback by that.

‘No. You looked surprised to hear that, Mary.’

‘I am, rather. It was all a bit of a bolt from the blue for us, so I’m surprised you're not surprised, if you know what I mean.’

‘Oh, give over,’ Thomas said, rolling his eyes. ‘You two, you’ve been practically joined at the hip for years now, doing everything together. He’s like the yin to your yang, the sun to your moon, all that shit. We did wonder years ago if you might be more than friends, didn’t we, Anna?’

‘We did,’ Anna confirmed, nodding her head.

‘But then nothing seemed to come of it, so we decided you were just weirdly co-dependent BFFs.’

Mary stared at them both, completely lost for words. Tom stayed silent at his desk, keeping his own counsel.

‘Are you going to have a party or something to celebrate now you’re home and the cat’s out of the bag?’ Anna asked. ‘It would be nice for you to see people accepting your relationship after all the worry you’ve had about that.’

Thomas snapped his fingers and pointed at her. ‘ _That_ is a very good question, Batesy. Should I get my glad rags out?’

‘Mama is already planning something. We haven’t sorted out the details yet.’

‘Right, well, when you do, me and Anna here should be first on the guest list seeing as we were not only your witnesses but also literally the first people in the world to know about your relationship. That practically makes us guests of honour, don’t you think?’

‘Don’t worry, Thomas, you’ll be on the guest list.’

‘I should think so. Right, well, as much fun as this has been, sadly, you don’t pay me to stand around all day gossiping, so we’d better get some work done, I suppose.’

‘There’s no suppose about it,’ Mary said, relieved to have made it through the interrogation without arousing suspicion. ‘Time for us all to get back to the grindstone.’

‘Don’t think I won’t be asking you more questions though as I think of them,’ Thomas warned.

‘Oh, don’t worry, I know you’ll quizzing us for ages yet,’ Mary replied, her head full of all that stuff Anna and Thomas had just said.

She looked over curiously at Tom as he got back to work, wondering what he thought about it all. And then she started wondering about what Tom had said to the officials in the chapel in his efforts to get them married and his reaction to Thomas talking about it. That was maybe something else she needed to talk to him about. Maybe. If she worked up the courage.


	11. Chapter 11

‘Don’t leave me out there by myself for long, will you?’ Mary said, pleadingly. ‘The sharks are already circling. You know they’ll smell the blood in the water as soon as I get out of the car.’

Tom chuckled. ‘Don’t worry, I won’t. I’ll just park the car on the verge up there and I’ll come back. I’ll be three minutes, tops.’

‘They might have eaten me alive by then,’ Mary grumbled.

‘No, they won’t. You can handle them. You’re Mary Crawley, remember.’

‘Branson,’ Mary said, glancing sideways at him, not quite brave enough to look him directly in the eye as she said her new name. ‘I’m Mary Branson now.’

Tom flushed a little, giving her a small smile. ‘Yes, right, of course, you are. Well, go get ‘em, Mary Branson.’

Mary took a deep breath and pushed the car door open, stepping out onto the pavement by the school gates.

It took about thirty seconds for the pack of waiting mothers to circle her. Mary braced herself for the onslaught.

‘Mary! Why haven’t you been replying to my texts?’ Kate was the first to demand. ‘Did my eyes deceive me or did I see a great big diamond on your left hand yesterday?’

‘Sorry, things have been a bit hectic. I didn’t get a chance to reply to you,’ Mary deflected, wondering if she could stall until Tom arrived.

‘You didn’t answer my question. Let’s see your left hand.’

Reluctantly, Mary pulled her hand out of her pocket and held it up in front of the women around her. The reaction was gratifying, she had to admit. They were oohing and ahhing over her ring, admiring the diamonds and the setting, telling her how gorgeous it was.

Predictably, Kate was the first one out of the gate again. ‘You’re engaged? Who’s the lucky man? I didn’t even know you were seeing anyone.’

‘Well, I’m not engaged, exactly,’ Mary hedged, playing for time.

Kate frowned at her. ‘You’re not engaged? That massive great diamond ring on your wedding finger would say otherwise.’

‘I, well, I… the truth of it is… well, I’m…’ Mary trailed off, still not quite ready to say the words.

Kate narrowed her eyes at her. ‘What’s going on, Mary?’

Mary opened her mouth again, ready to spill the beans this time, only to feel Tom slide in next to her, slip his arm around her waist, and lean in to kiss her on the lips.

‘So,’ he said, pulling her closer against him and smiling at the astonished women surrounding them, ‘have you told them our news?’

‘I was just about to,’ Mary said, feeling much better now he was with her.

‘You’re… you two are… you’re engaged to _Tom_?’ Kate said, her face a picture of surprise.

‘No, I’m not. I’m married to Tom,’ Mary said as blithely as she could.

Jaws dropped all around them again.

‘You’re _married_?’ squawked Kate, totally shocked by the news. ‘When did you get married?’

‘A few days ago. When we were in Las Vegas.’

‘What? Vegas? But I didn’t even know you were together!’ Kate sputtered She looked over at Claire, another of the school mums. ‘Did you know about them being together?’

Claire shook her head, eyes wide. ‘No. I would have told you if I did.’

‘Oh, don’t feel left out, ladies. Nobody knew. We were keeping it quiet, weren’t we, Mary?’ Tom said, squeezing his hand on Mary’s hip and giving another big smile. ‘Things were a bit complicated because of our family situation. I’m sure you can appreciate that, Kate. We wanted to be sure about how we felt about each other before we went public.’

‘But… so… right, so you’re obviously sure about each other now then,’ Kate said, her eyes moving backwards and forwards between them.

‘Yes, we are. We’re 100% sure about each other, aren’t we, love?’ Tom said, looking tenderly at Mary and pressing a kiss to her temple.

Mary nodded, putting her arm around his waist, hooking her thumb into his belt loop and leaning into him. ‘Yes, completely and utterly sure.’

Kate stared at them, apparently thrown by this public display of affection. ‘But married. That’s, well, that’s a bit out of the blue. I mean, how long have you actually been together?’

‘About six months, now, isn’t it, darling?’ Mary said, turning her face to smile lovingly at Tom.

‘Yep, six wonderful months.’

‘That’s still rather quick to get married, isn’t it?’ put in Claire, a slight edge of disapproval in her voice.

‘Ah, well, the wedding itself was a bit impromptu, I agree,’ Tom said, nodding. ‘That was my fault. I just looked at Mary that day and suddenly thought, “What are we waiting for?”, so I proposed, and she said yes. I mean we’ve known each other for so long already, it’s not like we needed time to get to know each other, is it?’

‘I suppose not,’ Claire said, doubtfully.

‘And when you know, you know, right?’ Mary said, smiling at her friends as she felt Tom’s hand tighten on her hip again. ‘Why waste time?’

‘Yes,’ he said, gazing at her fondly. ‘And we both knew. So, we got married.’

‘Well, I mean, I’ll be honest and say I’m shocked at the speed of it and the fact that none of us knew you were even together, but congratulations,’ Kate said, heralding a round of well wishes from the rest of the group gathered around Tom and Mary.

‘Thank you,’ Mary said as Tom grinned next to her, sliding his hand up her back to drape his arm over her shoulders. Mary leaned into him, tucking herself closer under his arm.

‘I had thought the two of you were going to happen years ago, but better late than never, I suppose,’ Claire said, finally smiling at them.

‘Me too,’ Kate agreed. ‘You do know there will be a few hearts breaking in a 10-mile radius around Downton, don’t you, Tom? I know several women who will be disappointed to hear you’re off the market.’

‘Oh, I doubt that,’ Tom said, genially. ‘It’s not like I was beating them off with a stick before Mary came along.’

‘Ah, but that’s only because Mary was always firmly by your side anyway and she scares most of them away.’

Mary looked indignant at that. ‘I do not!’

‘Yes, you do,’ Kate and Claire said in unison, while a few of the other women laughed at that.

‘I’ve had plenty of women ask me about Tom and if he was available. It was always a difficult one to answer because while technically he was, no-one ever seemed to get past you,’ Kate said, grinning at Mary.

‘That’s not true!’ Mary protested, sensing Tom looking at her with interest.

‘No? That’s not how it looked. No-one was ever good enough for Tom according to you,’ Kate continued. ‘Sarah Bunting? Edna Braithwaite? I could go on. You didn’t like any of them and they all fell by the wayside.’

‘Well, they _weren’t_ good enough for him,’ Mary said, defensively, not looking at Tom even though he already knew her opinion of those particular women.

‘And now we know why, don’t we? You wanted him for yourself. You took your time deciding that, though! But at least you got your man in the end.’

Mary stared at Kate, completely thrown by what she’d said.

‘Well, we’ll be having a party at some point, so keep an eye out for an invitation,’ Tom said, breaking the awkward silence just before the school bell rang. ‘Oh, and here come the munchkins.’

The little group of parents broke up as their various children appeared, dragging them off to their cars. Mary waved goodbye to her friends, still turning Kate’s words over in her head. These last few days were certainly giving her plenty to think about.

She came back to herself as George came racing up to Tom to show him the rocket he’d made in class. Behind him, Sybbie was dillydallying, hitching her bag over her shoulder.

Looking at the three of them, it struck Mary again that this was her little family now. Her husband and their two children. The strangest thing about that thought was how normal it felt. If she was honest, Mary was a bit concerned by the fact that she wasn't freaking out about it like she thought she would.


	12. Chapter 12

‘Mary! Tom! How wonderful to see you both!’ Isobel beamed at Mary, pulling her in to her to kiss her cheek. ‘Are the children not with you? I was so pleased to get your call about coming round this afternoon.’

‘I hope it’s not too much of an imposition, Isobel,’ Mary said, politely, moving to greet Dickie and letting Tom step in to hug Isobel. ‘I know we didn’t give you much notice. We’ve left the children with Mama today, but George sends his love. He says he’s looking forward to seeing you at the weekend.’

‘Ah, he’s such a sweet boy. And, no, it’s not an imposition at all. Cousin Violet is here too, so it’s perfect timing really.’

Mary froze, casting a quick glance at Tom. ‘Granny’s here?’

‘Yes, she’s in the drawing room. Go on through,’ Isobel said, ushering them in front of her.

‘I didn’t expect Granny to be here,’ Mary muttered under her breath to Tom.

‘Ah, well,’ he whispered back. ‘Two birds. One stone.’

‘Granny! How lovely to see you!’ Mary said, brightly, crossing the room to embrace her grandmother.

She saw the moment her grandmother’s fabled hawk eyes spotted the ring Isobel had failed to notice. Mary widened her eyes meaningfully, shaking her head slightly, in a bid to delay the start of the inevitable interrogation.

‘Mary, my dear. You’re looking well,’ Violet Crawley said, in a normal voice before hissing her first question in her granddaughter’s ear. ‘Is that an engagement ring?’

‘I’ll explain in a minute,’ Mary murmured into her grandmother’s ear as she kissed her cheek.

Violet favoured her with a sharp look before offering her cheek to Tom. ‘Tom, I hope you’ve been looking after yourself and not letting Mary run you ragged.’

Tom chuckled as he kissed her cheek. ‘Oh, I’m fine, Violet. I can hold my own with Mary.’

He went to sit next to Mary on one of Isobel and Dickie’s comfortable sofas as Isobel busied herself pouring tea and handing out the cups.

‘So, while it’s always a pleasure to see you, you said you had something you wanted to talk to us about,’ Isobel said, settling herself on the other sofa next to her husband.

Mary put her teacup on the coffee table in front of her, gathering up her courage.

‘Yes, Tom and I have some news and we wanted to tell you ourselves,’ Mary said, looking straight at Isobel. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw her grandmother’s mouth drop open as she appeared to put two and two together.

‘Oh, yes?’ Isobel looked between Tom and Mary, obviously slightly puzzled about what they could have to tell her.

Mary reached sideways and took Tom’s hand, resting their clasped hands on his knee, watching as three sets of eyes followed her movement. ‘It’s about me and Tom. We’re, well, we’re together now. As a couple.’

‘Oh. Oh. Right,’ Isobel said, trying valiantly to hide her surprise. ‘Well, that’s lovely news. I’m so pleased for you both.’

In the armchair beside her cousin, Violet narrowed her eyes at her granddaughter, knowing she wasn’t giving the full story.

Mary cast a quick glance at her grandmother before speaking again, squeezing Tom’s hand a bit harder. ‘There’s a bit more to it than that actually. We got married a few days ago.’

There was a stunned silence in the room before Dickie gathered his composure first. ‘Well, that’s marvellous news. Absolutely marvellous. Congratulations to you both.’

‘Thank you, Dickie,’ Mary said, smiling warmly at her godfather. She looked over at Isobel again. ‘I know this might be difficult for you, Isobel, but I wanted to make sure you heard it from me and not through the grapevine.’

Isobel gave herself a tiny shake, snapping herself out of her almost trance-like state. ‘Oh, no, Mary, no. Of course, it’s not difficult. I’m happy for you both, I am. It’s just… well, you’ve rather thrown me for a loop, that’s all.’

Tom glanced at Mary before focusing on Isobel. ‘As you’re Matthew’s mother, we wanted you to be one of the first to know. You know how much Matthew meant to both of us.’

‘I know, Tom, I know. You don’t need to explain yourselves or excuse yourselves to me. You fell in love. There’s no crime in that. Matthew would have wanted you both to be happy. Sybil too,’ Isobel said, taking Dickie’s hand when he reached out to her. ‘I’m not upset, just surprised, that’s all. I hope you’ll be very happy together.’

Mary let out a sigh of relief, glad to have got that over with and thankful her mother-in-law hadn’t taken the news too badly. She stiffened, though, when her grandmother’s voice rang out, as cold and hard as steel.

‘Mary Josephine Crawley, you’re married?’

Mary swallowed. ‘Yes.’

‘And when, pray, did this happy event take place?’

‘A few days ago.’

‘And where did it take place?’

‘Er, it was in Las Vegas.’

‘I see,’ said her grandmother, glacially. ‘And were your mama and papa privy to this information?’

Mary held her grandmother’s hard stare, even as she felt her palm getting sweatier in Tom’s grip. ‘No, not until we got home.’

‘Oh, Mary, what were you thinking?’ Violet said, harshly.

‘Violet!’ Isobel said, shocked by her cousin’s reaction.

Mary felt anger spiking up through her. ‘Do you disapprove of me and Tom, Granny? Only I got the impression from Mama that you’d been taking rather an interest in the state of our relationship of late?’

‘That’s true, Violet,’ Isobel confirmed. ‘We have both speculated about that in recent years – you can’t deny that.’

‘I do not deny that, although I will thank you to make it sound less like we’re a convention of fish wives gossiping in the marketplace, Isobel. There is nothing untoward in taking an interest in the lives of those you care for. No, Mary, I do not disapprove of your choice of husband, unconventional as it might be,’ Violet said, turning her eyes on the husband in question. ‘Tom, you know I think you are a fine addition to this family, and I am happy to welcome you to it – again.’

‘Er, thank you,’ said Tom, somewhat taken aback by this declaration.

‘So, no, I do not object to your union. But I do object to the secrecy in which you have draped the whole affair. Was it really necessary to keep us all in the dark? Were we not to be trusted with the knowledge of your burgeoning relationship?’

Mary stared at her grandmother, her brain racing to come up with an answer that wasn’t the truth.

Tom glanced at her and picked up the slack, giving Mary's hand a reassuring squeeze. ‘We kept it quiet because we weren’t sure how the family would react to us getting together, Violet. Plus, it was a bit of a shock for us after all these years to discover how we felt about each other. It wasn’t that we didn’t trust any of you exactly, it was more that we needed space to work things out between us first.’

‘Well, that makes sense. Nobody wants to start a new relationship and feel like they are in a fishbowl, do they?’ Isobel said, nodding at Tom’s explanation.

‘You don’t think it might have been more considerate and, dare I say, courteous to tell us you were involved before you got married, then?’ Violet sniffed.

‘We didn’t go to Vegas intending to get married. Really we didn’t. It just sort of happened,’ Mary said, trying to salvage the situation with a kernel of truth that didn’t derail their story.

‘It wasn’t planned then?’

‘No, not at all. It was very much a last-minute decision.’

‘But the tawdriness of a Las Vegas wedding, Mary. Have I taught you nothing about how important appearances are? I suspect this is your American blood making itself known,’ Violet said, disdainfully.

Mary’s lips twitched as she tried to stifle a smile. ‘Granny, are you upset because we got married without you?’

‘Well, I can’t deny that I would have liked the opportunity to be at your wedding, my dear, as I’m sure your mama and papa would have.’

‘You should talk to Sybbie,’ Tom remarked. ‘The two of you have that in common. She started wailing in The Stirred Pot when we told the kids. She was devastated not to have been a bridesmaid.’

‘And I can quite understand her feelings, the poor child,’ Violet responded, emphatically. ‘It is quite an unpleasant sensation to feel your presence is not required by your nearest and dearest on their wedding day.’

Mary rolled her eyes. ‘Oh, please. Don’t be such a martyr. We didn’t leave you out at all simply because even we didn’t know we were going to get married until we did. Besides, Tom and I have both had the big white weddings before, we don’t need that again.’

‘A wedding is not just for the bride and groom, Mary,’ her grandmother declared. ‘It’s a celebration for their loved ones too. Perhaps you could think about having a blessing to make up for it.’

Mary gripped Tom’s hand tighter, her knuckles whitening, as they shared a slightly panicked look. ‘No, I don’t think that's necessary.’

‘Well, I don’t think you should simply dismiss the suggestion out of hand. I could speak to your mother about it if you want. I’m sure we could do the bulk of the organisation between us if you deem yourself too busy.’

‘No, Granny, there will be no blessing,’ Mary bit out, her tone brooking no argument.

Violet narrowed her eyes speculatively at her granddaughter. ‘Is there a reason for the unedifying speed of your nuptials?

‘No, of course not.’

‘You’re not in an indelicate condition, are you?’ her grandmother said, raising an enquiring eyebrow.

‘Absolutely not!’ Mary sputtered, suddenly remembering the unused pregnancy test squirrelled away at the bottom of her handbag.

‘You’re sure you didn’t marry so suddenly and unexpectedly to avoid a scandal?’

‘It’s the 21st century and I am not a naïve debutante, fearful for her reputation,’ Mary said trying to hang on to her patience. ‘Even if I were in an indelicate condition, as you so coyly put it, Tom and I would not have needed to get married because of that. In this day and age, we could have a baby out of wedlock, and nobody would blink an eyelid.’

‘I hardly think that is true, not in the circles this family moves in,’ Violet retorted, horrified by the notion. ‘But, thankfully, that is not a view we need to put to the test. If you do find yourself expecting, it will all be very respectable, even if the wedding took place in Las Vegas.’

‘Oh, Granny, you’re such a snob.’

‘There is nothing wrong with having standards, Mary. I’m surprised I need to explain that to you.’

‘We know this has all been a bit of surprise for everyone,’ Tom said, trying to diffuse the tension between Mary and Violet. ‘Cora has suggested throwing a party to celebrate the occasion, so we hope you’ll join us for that in lieu of an actual wedding.’

‘That would be lovely, Tom. Dickie and I will be there to give you our blessing. Not that you need it,’ Isobel said, smiling warmly at the newly-weds.

Violet sniffed. ‘Well, of course, I will be there. And it goes without saying that I wish you both well. Although, I still think a blessing in a proper church would be appropriate under the circumstances.’

‘Granny, give it up! We will not be having a blessing,’ Mary exclaimed, exasperated by her grandmother’s persistence.

‘We’ll see,’ Violet muttered, determined to have the last word. ‘I’m sure Sybbie will be on my side on this matter.’

Tom grinned, sneaking a look at his silently simmering wife. ‘I’m sure she will, Violet, but it’s not her you need to persuade.’

‘Well, there is more than one way to skin a cat,’ Violet said, with the air of a woman formulating a plan. ‘But we will say no more on the matter for now.’

‘No, we won’t,’ said Mary emphatically, drawing a firm line under that conversation. There would be no blessing happening on her watch, not for a marriage that may not last beyond a year.


	13. Chapter 13

Mary tapped on Tom’s bedroom door later that evening after the children were tucked up in bed and let herself in without waiting for an answer. He was sitting on his bed, back propped against the headboard, legs outstretched, laptop open and balanced on his thighs.

‘It’s only me,’ she said, coming over to stand by him.

‘Give me one minute, Mary,’ Tom muttered, eyes fixed on the laptop, fingers pecking at the keyboard.

Mary waited patiently for all of thirty seconds. ‘Tom.’

‘Just a minute,’ he said, without looking up at her, still typing.

Roughly another thirty seconds passed before Mary tried again. ‘Tom, I have something to tell you.’

‘One minute. I’ve nearly finished this.’

Mary huffed out an impatient sigh, rolling her eyes. Waiting was not her strong suit. Tom was still typing when she grabbed the laptop by the top of the screen, tossed it across the bed and swung her leg over him to settle herself on his thighs where the laptop had been.

Tom stared up at her in astonishment, his hands hovering uncertainly for a moment before coming to rest on her thighs as she knelt above him with a mischievous smile on her face.

‘What are you doing?’

‘Getting your attention,’ she said, simply.

‘Well, you’ve definitely got that.’ Tom waved his hand back and forth between them, gesturing at her unexpected and unaccustomed position straddling his lap. ‘This is new.’

‘Well, I’ve never been married to you before. It would have been inappropriate when you were my brother-in-law.’

Tom chuckled. ‘Ah, but it’s not now I’m your husband, is that what you’re saying?’

‘Exactly. It’s perfectly acceptable for me to sit on you now. Plus, you were ignoring me.’

‘I wasn’t! I was working and just needed to finish something off.’

‘Ah, but I have something important to tell you.’

‘Okay. And it couldn’t wait a few more seconds?’

‘No.’

‘Well? What have you got to tell me?’

‘We got 99 problems but a baby ain’t one,’ Mary said, with a grin. ‘The pill did its job – assuming we even needed it to. I’m not pregnant. We won’t be meeting little Vegas Branson in nine months.’

Tom laughed again, the movement jiggling Mary a little in his lap. ‘Vegas Branson? Is that what we were going to call the poor little bugger?’

‘Well, it would have been fitting, don’t you think? Or possibly Nevada Branson. I think Bellagio Branson would have been a bit too much,’ Mary replied, still grinning at him.

‘Especially for a boy,’ Tom agreed. ‘Either way, the Dowager would have needed smelling salts to get over the name of her latest great-grandchild.’

Mary giggled. ‘Can you imagine? She’d have been apoplectic!’

Tom grinned. ‘That she would. So, no baby then?’

‘Nope. I am officially _not_ in an indelicate condition.’

‘Well, that’s one less thing to worry about.’

‘It certainly is. And we’re whittling down the list of people we have to tell. There’s just Edith and your family now of the people that really matter,’ Mary said, settling herself more comfortably on Tom’s lap, ignoring the little voice in the back of her brain asking whether it was a good idea.

‘You can cross my mother and Kieran off the list. I’ve told them both.’

Mary cocked her head, looking down at him in surprise. ‘You have? Didn’t you want me to do that with you?’

‘No, it’s fine. You know Mammy hates video calling; she just can’t get the hang of it. I spend more time looking up her nose or at the ceiling than seeing her actual face. She much prefers a good old-fashioned telephone call. So, I rang her about half an hour ago and told her.’

‘And? How did she take it?’

‘She was surprised like everyone else, cross that we got married without her – I told her she can form a club with Sybbie and Violet – but she wished us well. She said to give you her love and that she’d text you when she’d charged up her phone.’

‘Oh, right. And Kieran? I bet he had something to say about it all. You getting hitched to yet another posh English bird. I can’t imagine he let you off lightly.’

‘Kieran laughed himself silly for five minutes solid and then said, “Thank you, Tommy, you’ve made your big brother a rich man”,’ Tom said, going a bit red in the cheeks.

Mary frowned at him. ‘What? Why? What does that mean?’

‘He said I’d won him a bet with Niall and Sean, you know, my old school friends.’

‘What bet?’

‘Apparently, they had a bet going about if and when we’d hook up and Kieran just won the pot.’

Mary stared at him. ‘Are you joking?’

‘No, that’s what Kieran said. He asked me to text Niall and Sean to give them the news, so he could collect his winnings.’

‘They had a bet on us getting together?’

‘Apparently so.’

Mary stared down at Tom, rubbing her finger thoughtfully along her lower lip.

Tom looked back at her warily ‘What? Are you cross about it? I swear I knew nothing about it.’

‘No, I know you didn’t. It’s just…’

‘It’s just what?’

‘It seems like every time we tell someone we’re married, they’re shocked by the marriage bit but not by the fact that we’re together. It’s like they all thought it was inevitable or something.’

Tom said nothing, just gazed back at her.

‘And it’s not just a few people, Tom. It’s everyone. People that know us but don’t know each other. I mean there’s Kate and Claire and the others on the school run, now you’re saying Kieran, Niall and Sean had a bet on it. Even people that wouldn’t agree on anything else – like Granny and Kieran, for instance – think the same thing, and you know if she said something was black, he’d swear it was white.’

Tom huffed out a laugh, acknowledging that with a nod of his head. ’That’s true enough.’

‘But they agree on us.’

‘So it seems,’ he said, softly.

Mary stared at him for a moment then leaned forward, cupping his face in her hands.

‘What are you doing?’ Tom whispered as Mary hovered inches away from him.

‘Testing a theory,’ she breathed before closing her eyes and kissing him.

For a second, Tom didn’t respond, and Mary opened her eyes, her lips still on his, suddenly terrified she’d got this all wrong. And then he did respond, kissing her back and sliding his hands up to sit either side of her waist. Mary closed her eyes again, sinking into the kiss, tilting Tom’s face up further to deepen it. She felt butterflies set up shop in her tummy as the kiss went on. And on. And on.

Eventually, she pulled back to look at him, still holding his face in her hands.

‘Well,’ she said.

‘What theory were you testing?’ Tom asked, his voice lower than usual. Sexier than usual.

‘Whether they were right. About us,’ she murmured, grazing his lips with hers again.

‘And? Are they?’

She gazed at him, a small smile playing at the edges of her lips. ‘I think I need to conduct more tests before I can come to a scientifically solid conclusion.’

‘You do, do you?’ he said, a playful note to his voice. Mary sucked in a breath as he suddenly sat up straighter, bringing him closer to her. His warm hands rested loosely on her waist, his thumbs slowly stroking up and down, teasing her skin through the material of her blouse, sending a delicious shiver snaking up her spine.

‘Uh-huh,’ Mary nodded before lowering her lips to meet his again. She leaned forward, shifting her weight on his lap, pressing against him as they kissed, a slow, languid kiss, full of banked heat and delicious possibilities. Tom groaned slightly as she moved on top of him, sending a thrill shooting through Mary’s body.

A small, tearful voice stopped them in their tracks. ‘Daddy?’

Mary pulled away from Tom, hastily sliding off his lap to tumble onto the bed next to him, heat staining her cheeks.

Sybbie stood in the doorway, clutching her teddy, tears glistening on her face.

‘What is it, love? Are you all right?’ Tom asked, gently.

‘I had a bad dream. There was a monster, and it was chasing me and I couldn’t run fast enough to get away from it.’

‘Oh, sweetheart, there’s no monster here, I promise.’

Sybbie nodded, uncertainly, her mouth still downturned, fresh tears trembling in her eyes. She crept closer to the bed. ‘Can I stay here with you for a bit? I’m frightened to go back to sleep just yet.’

Tom glanced at Mary, an apology on his face, before looking back at Sybbie. ‘Of course, you can, poppet. Come up here and give me a cuddle.’

Sybbie launched herself gratefully at the bed, scrambling up the middle of it to wedge herself between Tom and Mary, snuggling close into her dad’s side. Tom put his arm around her, rubbing her back reassuringly.

‘It’s all right, love. That nasty old monster can’t hurt you. You’re safe.’

Sybbie wrapped her arm over his stomach, squeezing him tight. ‘It was a stupid, ugly monster, Daddy.’

‘Of course, it was. That’s why it will never be able to hurt you, Sybbie. It’s much too stupid to catch a clever girl like you. You just need to show it a mirror, and it would scare itself with how ugly it is.’

Sybbie giggled, a small uncertain giggle, but a giggle all the same. Mary looked over her head at Tom and gave him a rueful smile, their moment well and truly interrupted.

‘Well, I should leave you two to discuss tactics on how to take down a stupid, ugly monster,’ she said, moving to get off the bed.

Sybbie shot out her free hand, patting around on the bed behind her to find Mary. ‘No, don’t go, Aunt Ma-… Mummy. I like that you’re here. Can you stay for a while too?’

Mary lifted her eyes to meet Tom’s, a knot of emotion thick in her chest. ‘Of course, I can, darling. And it just so happens that I am an expert in tripping up stupid, ugly monsters who should know better than to try and chase a clever girl. It never works out well for the monster.’

She settled back against the headboard, mirroring Tom’s position, his daughter squished between them, still holding Mary’s hand.

‘Is it okay if I call you Mummy?’ Sybbie asked, twisting slightly to look over her shoulder at Mary. ‘Only George is calling Daddy Dad now, so I thought it might be all right.’

‘It’s perfectly all right, my precious girl,’ Mary said, dropping a kiss on top of Sybbie’s head.

She straightened up to see Tom looking at her in a way she’d never seen before.

‘Thank you,’ he mouthed.

Mary smiled at him, sliding down to curl up behind Sybbie to discuss ways to make dream monsters wish they’d never even thought about chasing smart little girls.


	14. Chapter 14

Thomas was animatedly scrawling all over a whiteboard, chatting up a storm, outlining some of the ideas he’d fleshed out after the Vegas conference to Mary and Tom when Edith banged into the Downton Abbey estate office.

‘Are you kidding me?’ she bit out. ‘Are you actually fucking kidding me?’

The three of them turned as one to stare at her.

‘Well, hello to you too, sister dear,’ Mary said, recovering first.

‘You’re _married_? The two of you are married?’ Edith spat, gesturing roughly at Tom and Mary.

‘Er, I’ll just leave you to it,’ Thomas said, sidling around the furious Edith and beating a smart retreat into the room next door. Mary had no doubt he would be pressed up against the wall, straining to listen to every word.

‘How can you be married?’ Edith carried on, slamming her designer handbag down onto one of the desks. ‘I mean, what the fuck? I didn’t even know you were together!’

‘Edith, we can-‘ Tom started

‘And why _are_ you together? It’s disgusting! What about Sybil? Did you forget all about her?’

Mary tried to cut in. ‘No, of course, we di-‘

Edith ignored her, still in full flow. ‘I mean I expect this level of selfishness from _her_ , but you, Tom, I expected better of you. Marrying your dead wife’s sister? I mean, how bloody crass is that?’

‘ _EDITH!_ ’ Mary bellowed, finally stopping her sister in her tracks. ‘If you’ve come here just to be bloody rude to us, you can piss off right now.’

Edith narrowed her eyes at Mary, an ugly sneer on her face. ‘You married our brother-in-law, Mary! Our _brother-in-law!_ How the hell did you expect me to react?’

‘I had hoped we might be able to discuss it in a civilised fashion, but it appears I was hoping for too much,’ Mary shot back.

‘Well, quite obviously I was hoping for too much when I thought you would respect Sybil’s memory and keep your hands off her fucking _husband_!’ Edith switched her death stare from her sister to her brother-in-law. ‘Tom? Have you got anything to say for yourself?’

‘Edith, I know you’re upset, but we can explain,’ Tom said, attempting to soothe his irate sister-in-law.

‘Explain? _Explain?_ How can you explain this? I can’t believe you would do this to Sybil!’

Mary glared at her sister. ‘Sybil’s been dead for seven years, Edith. We’re not doing anything to her.’

Edith gaped at her. ‘Oh, you really are a cold-hearted bitch, aren’t you? I’ll bet this was all down to you. You wanted Tom for yourself, so you took him, never mind that he was Sybil’s first. That’s you all over, isn’t it, Mary? You just take what you want and sod everyone else. That’s bloody typical of you. It’s what you’ve done your whole life. Everyone else can go to hell as long as you get what you want.’

‘Edith,’ Tom said, a warning note in his voice. ‘Don’t speak to Mary like that.’

Edith rounded on him. ‘I’ll speak to her how I like, Tom. She might be your wife now, but she’s been my sister for a damn sight longer and nobody knows her nasty, conniving ways like I do.’

‘Is that so?’ Mary said, her voice glacial. ‘Then there’s no point trying to discuss it further since you apparently know me inside out.’

‘Are you… are you really married?’ Edith asked, her voice cracking a little. ‘Or is this some kind of sick, twisted joke?’

Tom opened his mouth to answer her, only for Mary to turn swiftly, bringing her hand up to grab his jaw and kiss him soundly on the lips. She opened her eyes and gave him a look before turning defiantly back to her horrified sister. ‘Does that answer your question?’

Edith stared at her, loathing on her face. ‘I never thought even you would stoop this low, Mary. You’re dragging our family’s name through the mud. And right before my wedding too. How long have you been planning this? I wouldn’t put it past you to have timed it all to ruin my big day.’

Mary folded her arms across her chest and rolled her eyes, clearly showing what she thought of that. ‘Oh, please. Don’t be so childish. If I’d planned it, I would have married him much closer to your wedding. Really stolen your thunder.’

‘You utter cow,’ Edith gritted out, looking ready to throttle Mary with her bare hands.

‘Don’t worry, Edith, we won’t come to your precious bloody wedding if that makes you feel any better.’

Edith glared at her. ‘Much as I would love to take you up on that, Mama and Papa would be devastated. So would Sybbie. You know how excited she is about being my bridesmaid. And it would also set tongues wagging. All my guests would be talking about why my only living sister wasn’t at my wedding instead of focusing on me and Bertie, so you will come, but you won’t create any drama. Do you hear me?’

Mary shrugged, leaning back against Tom, her casually proprietorial stance making Edith scowl.

‘I mean it, Mary,’ Edith spat out, warningly. ‘You will not spoil this for me.’

Tom wrapped his arm around Mary’s waist, holding her in place against his body, answering Edith before Mary could retort. ‘Agreed. We’ll be there, but there’ll be no drama, I promise. Believe it or not, Edith, we haven’t done any of this to make things difficult or awkward for you.’

Edith narrowed her eyes at him. ‘Right. Well. Let’s leave it at that then. I will hold you to your word, Tom. Make sure you keep her under control.’

Edith picked up her bag, ignoring Mary’s furious, outraged glare, and headed for the door.

‘Is that it then?’ Mary piped up. ‘You’re not going to congratulate us?’

Edith whirled round, glaring daggers at her sister. ‘Congratulate you?’

‘Yes, it is customary when you see newly-weds for the first time after their wedding,’ Mary said sweetly. ‘It’s the polite thing to do.’

Tom tightened his arm around her, silently warning her not to poke the bear anymore.

‘No, Mary, I won’t congratulate you,’ Edith ground out, obviously fighting to hang on to her temper. ‘But I will offer my commiserations to you, Tom. I hope you come to your senses very soon.’

With that, she spun on her heel and stormed out of the office.

‘Bye, Edith!’ Mary yelled after her disappearing sister. ‘Love you too!’

She pulled out of Tom’s grasp, spinning round to face him, vibrating with anger.

‘Well, what an absolute bitch!’ she snapped, completely and utterly furious. ‘How _dare_ she come in here mouthing off at us like that!’

Tom sighed, running a hand through his hair. ‘She’s upset, Mary. I think we could have predicted that.’

‘She might be upset, but that doesn’t entitle her to be a total cow about it all.’

‘I thought you wanted to tell her the truth.’

‘I did. Right up until she was so horrible to us. After that, I didn’t want to give her the satisfaction of knowing it’s not a real marriage.’

‘And that’s why you kissed me just now, is it?’

Mary looked at Tom and flushed. ‘Well, it got my point over, didn’t it? I should have given you a bloody lap dance. That would have really got up her nose.’

Tom sighed again. ‘Mary, you could have defused the situation instead of inflaming it.’

‘Why should I?’ Mary demanded, outraged by the very thought of it. ‘I wasn’t the one coming into our place of work shooting my mouth off and saying all those nasty, bitchy things! We could have had anyone here in the office! She didn’t give a stuff! So, I don’t care if Edith’s upset, Tom. The world doesn’t revolve around her.’

‘No, I get that, and she was out of line, she was, but we could have tried to build a few bridges.’

‘Bollocks to that! We’ve got to stay together for a year, so she’s just going to have to get used to it.’

‘What do you mean you’ve got to stay together for a year?’ Thomas said from the doorway.

Mary froze, shocked eyes locked on Tom. ‘Shit,’ she said.


	15. Chapter 15

Mary turned around slowly, fixing Thomas with a glare. ‘How long have you been standing there?’

‘Long enough,’ Thomas said, narrowing his eyes at them. ‘Something’s going on, isn’t it? There’s something you’re not telling us.’

‘Nothing’s going on,’ Mary said, trying to stare him down.

Thomas shook his head, looking suspiciously between them. ‘Nuh huh, that ain’t gonna fly, sister. I heard you say something about this not being a real marriage and that you’ve got to stay together for at least a year. I smell a rat. A great big, stinky, dead rat.’

Mary glared at him. ‘I said nothing’s going on.’

‘Oh, come on, Mary, you can’t bullshit a bullshitter. You of all people should know that. What’s going on?’

‘It’s none of your business.’

‘Maybe it wasn’t, but then you asked me to lie to people about your wedding, and I have, so I’m thinking it is my business now precisely because you’ve made a liar of me.’

Mary clenched her jaw, folding her arms across her chest, not giving him anything. Tom stood up from where he was leaning on the desk, coming up behind her, putting his hands on her shoulders and rubbing them gently.

Thomas watched as Mary relaxed slightly under his touch, some of the tension leeching out of her shoulders.

‘Look,’ he said, in a more conciliatory tone, ‘I’m not threatening you. Something’s obviously not right and you’re my friends. I want to help if I can. What is it? It can’t be trouble in paradise this early on, not with the way you’re acting with each other.’

Thomas’s grin faded as he saw the looks on Mary and Tom’s faces. ‘What? Is it something else? Oh, shit, is it not legal after all? Your marriage?’

Tom moved round to so he could see Mary’s face, his hand running gently down from her shoulder to rest on her hip, almost as if he was afraid she might explode if he didn't keep soothing her. ‘I think we have to tell him.’

Mary glanced at Thomas. ‘No.’

‘He’s already heard too much, Mary. And he can keep a secret if he has to, can’t you, Thomas?’ Tom said, looking over at Thomas for confirmation.

Thomas nodded. ‘Contrary to popular belief, I can. I’m like a clam when I want to be. These lips? Tighter than Harry Styles' jeans.’

‘We don’t really have a choice, Mary,’ Tom said softly, dipping his head to look into her downturned eyes.

Mary stared at the floor, biting her lip, before obviously coming to a decision and pinning Thomas with a hard look. ‘Fine. But if we tell you, you have to swear you won’t tell anyone else.’

‘I swear I won’t.’

‘I mean it, Thomas.’

‘All right, I’ll tell you what, I swear on my signed photo of Kylie that I won’t tell a soul, not even Richard. Or Anna. If I break my word, I’ll let you burn Kylie right in front of me, so help me God.’

Tom grinned. ‘There you go, Mary. You know how much he loves that photo. I think we can trust him.’

Mary hesitated then nodded grudgingly. ‘All right.’

‘So, is that it then? Are you not actually married?’

Mary shook her head. ‘No, we’re married. The wedding was real.’

Thomas looked confused. ‘Then what is it?’

Mary and Tom looked at each other then back at Thomas.

‘What?’ he said, frustrated by their silence.

‘Our relationship isn’t real,’ Tom said, watching his friend’s face carefully.

‘Eh? What does that mean?’ Thomas said, confused.

‘It means we haven’t been secretly shagging for six months like we told you. We haven’t been secretly anything.’

‘But… what about all that stuff you told me and Anna? About the awards do and the marathon all-nighter?’

‘We lied.’

‘What? But why?’

‘Because we got drunkenly married in Vegas and we can’t get divorced for a year, so Mama said we had to pretend to be properly married so we didn’t embarrass Papa or ruin Edith’s wedding,’ Mary said in a rush. ‘We had to come up with a story about how we’d fallen in love and sneaked around behind everyone’s backs.’

‘But it’s not true?’

‘No.’

Thomas thumped down into a chair, staring at them in disbelief. ‘Jeez, and people say I’m the one who always brings the drama.'

Mary heaved out a sigh, plonking herself down in another chair. ‘So, now you know the truth.’

Thomas thought about it for a minute. ‘You’re really not together?’

‘No.’

‘Huh. So, you’re lying your arses off for Edith’s sake. The same Edith who’s just barged in here and torn strips off you for something you’re not actually doing.’

‘That’s about the size of it, yes,’ Tom said, coming to lean on the desk next to Mary’s chair, putting his hand comfortingly on her shoulder. Thomas watched with interest as she tilted her head to rest it against Tom’s arm.

‘And you’re definitely not shagging?’

‘No.’

‘Not even once?’

Mary flushed slightly. ‘Maybe in Vegas after the wedding, but neither of us can remember if we did or we didn’t.’

Thomas grinned at them. ‘If I was a betting man, I’d say you did given how the two of you were all over each other that night.’

‘We’ll have to take your word for it,’ Tom said, quietly. ‘It looks like we’ll never know.’

‘Is that why you can’t get an annulment? Because you probably did it that night?’

Mary nodded.

‘Can I ask a question?’

‘If you must,’ Mary said reluctantly.

‘If you haven’t been shagging each other’s brains out for the last six months, why the chuffing hell did you get married?’ Thomas asked, curiously.

‘I have no idea,’ Mary said at the same time as Tom said, ‘Haven’t a clue, mate. Don’t remember a thing about it.’

‘Hmmm,’ Thomas said, not entirely convinced either of them were telling the absolute truth. ‘It’s just that it’s a really bloody odd thing to do when you’re not in a relationship of any kind.’

‘Don’t you think we know that, Thomas?’ Mary snapped, irritably. ‘But don’t worry, it turns out karma really is a bitch and has made sure to properly kick our arses this week for that one night of drunken stupidity.’

‘Because of all the lying you’ve had to do?’

Mary stood up, pacing up and down, flinging her hands about to emphasise her words. ‘Because everything is snowballing! Mama wants us to pretend we’re happily married for a year, Granny wants us to have a blessing, Edith wants to kill us, George is calling Tom Dad and Sybbie is calling me Mummy! It’s a mess!’

She came to a stop next to Tom, heaving out a massive sigh, as if she’d run out of energy. Tom reached out to take her hand, consolingly, a small act Thomas also noted with interest.

‘Well, you’re in a pretty pickle, the pair of you, aren’t you?’

Mary huffed out a bitter laugh. ‘You don’t say.’

‘So, what are you going to do about it?’

‘I don’t think there’s anything we can do about it,’ Tom said, eyeing Mary cautiously like she might go off like a rocket at any moment. ‘We’ve made our bed and we have to lie in it. We made the decision to go along with Cora’s plan, Mary. I don’t think we can back out now because Edith has thrown her toys out of the pram.’

Mary sighed. ‘No, I know. It just feels like a lot of pressure to lie to everyone. Especially the kids.’

Tom squeezed her hand and she looked over at him, a small, rueful smile on her face.

'Sorry, Tom. I know I've just gone off on one there. Bloody Edith. I was holding it together until she came in shouting the odds at us.'

'I know, love,' he said, squeezing her hand again.

‘So, who else knows the truth?’ Thomas asked. ‘Apart from me and Lady G, I mean. Does your dad know?’

‘Yes, we told both Mama and Papa the truth when we got back from Vegas. But everyone else now thinks we’re head over heels for each other.’

‘Well, then I don’t think you’ve got a problem, except for Edith and her delicate sensibilities. You won’t have to do much to keep everyone else believing you. Hell, you had me fooled and I’m not usually a slouch in that area. In fact, do you know what? I’ll help you sell the story.’

‘You will? How?’

‘Mary, please, I’m a marketing genius, that’s why you pay me the big bucks. I’m wounded that you think I can’t get everyone to believe you two are the biggest love story since Harry and Meghan. You leave it with me.

‘I’m… well, I admit I’m a little bit scared about what you’re going to do, but thank you, Thomas,’ Mary said, taken aback by his willingness to help them.

‘Right, I think we could all do with a coffee and a choccie biscuit after that. I’ll go and put the kettle on.’ Thomas got up and headed for the door, turning halfway to look back at Tom and Mary. ‘Do you know what the worst part of this is?’

Mary cocked her head at him, looking suddenly suspicious. ‘What?’

‘All of this bother and you’re not even getting a shag out of it. Christ, if I were you two, I think I’d be tempted to just go off somewhere and fuck like bunnies anyway. Might as well be hung for a sheep as a lamb.’

Thomas grinned diabolically as Mary and Tom both stared at him open-mouthed, both going pink in the cheeks. ‘In fact, it would help our campaign if you both looked like you were getting some on a regular basis. That’s what people expect of newly-weds.’

Mary found her voice. ‘Is this your idea of helping?’

‘Part of it, yes. My advice? Go forth and shag, my children.’

With that, Thomas departed for the kitchen, ultra pleased with himself for planting that seed.

‘Not shagging, my arse. We’ll see about that,’ he muttered under his breath as he filled the kettle up. ‘If there are two people on the planet who ought to be shagging, it’s those two oblivious eejits. Looks like it’s Uncle Thomas to the rescue.’


	16. Chapter 16

Thomas came back into the main office with a tray of mugs, a packet of chocolate biscuits and a frown on his face.

‘You’ve not even updated your relationship status.’

‘What?’ said Mary, slouching in her swivel chair, her head tipped back, staring at the ceiling as she twisted back and forth.

‘Facebook, Mary. Neither of you have updated your relationship status yet.’

‘Well, it wasn’t one of our top priorities. Some of us don't live online, you know. We had people we needed to tell in person.’

Thomas handed out the drinks, nudging Mary to sit up properly.

‘And have you told all those people?’

‘Yes. Well, we hadn’t told Edith but, obviously, someone beat us to that,’ Mary replied, grouchily. She looked over at Tom. ‘Who do you think told her?’

‘I don’t know. Does it matter?’

‘S’pose not, but I wish they hadn’t.’

‘What’s done is done, Mary. No point dwelling on that now,’ Thomas said, briskly. ‘Now, we’re going to focus on our social media strategy.’

‘Our what?’ said Tom, slightly alarmed. ‘We’re going to have a strategy?’

Thomas looked at him pityingly. ‘Of course, we are. That’s marketing 101 these days.’

‘We don’t just change our relationship status and leave it at that? Neither of us uses Facebook that much anyway,’ Tom said, reaching for his tea.

‘Oh, Tom, you poor innocent, you. Your social media strategy isn’t about you, it’s about your audience. We need everyone to buy into you and Mary being loved-up newly-weds, so that’s what we’re going to give them.’

Tom flashed a look over at Mary, who sat up straighter and shrugged. ‘He’s the expert.’

‘At last, my genius is recognised,’ said Thomas, beaming at her. ‘Right, here’s what we’re going to do. You’re going to give me half an hour to work some magic and then you’re both going to update your statuses exactly as I tell you on Facebook. I’m going to sort out something for you to post on Instagram and Twitter too. Mary, what name are you going to use? Are you sticking with Crawley or switching to Branson?’

‘I… I hadn’t really given it any thought. I mean, legally I’m Mary Branson now, but should I stick with Crawley?’ She looked over at her new husband. ‘What do you think, Tom? Do you want me to change my name to Branson?’

Tom looked a bit taken aback by her referring her decision to him. ‘Um, well, I’d be happy for you to use Branson, but it’s completely up to you. I suppose it depends on whether you want to keep Crawley to make things easier in a year.’

Thomas looked between them, huffing out an exasperated sigh. ‘Well, this is all very sweet and modern of you, Tom, not insisting she takes your surname, but I’m making the decision for you. You’re Mary Branson, now. And you’re changing your Twitter and Instagram handles from @ladymaryc to @ladymaryb.’

Mary glared at him indignantly. ‘You can’t decide my name! It’s not up to you!’

Thomas rolled his eyes at her. ‘Calm your tits, Mary. I don’t give a stuff what you want to go with legally, you can do what you want there, but where it matters – which is on social media – we’re going with the Branson branding. It cements you as a couple and underlines the change in your relationship.’

Mary opened her mouth to say something, but Thomas cut her off. ‘Ah, no, this is not up for discussion. You want my help; you do what I say. Like you said, this is my area of expertise. Right, drink your tea and do some work. I’ll get back to you shortly with the next steps. Don’t do anything on social media before I tell you to.’

Mary subsided, exchanging uneasy looks with Tom, as Thomas turned to his Mac and set to work on God knows what.

Half an hour later, both of their phones buzzed just as Thomas rolled his shoulders and stretched his arms out, before swivelling around to face them.

‘Right, Project Brary is a go.’

‘Project what?’ said Tom, puzzled.

‘Brary. It’s your ship name.’

‘Our what now?’ Tom asked, looking at him blankly.

Thomas rolled his eyes. ‘Your ship name. Relationship name. It’s a portmanteau of Branson and Mary. You know, like Brangelina or TomKat back in the day.’

Tom stared at him. ‘You are the strangest man I know.’

‘And you, my little Irish leprechaun, are the most out-of-touch-with-pop-culture man I know.’

‘Why have you used his surname and my first name? Shouldn’t it be Tommary or something like that?’

‘No.’

‘Why not?’ Mary asked curiously like it even mattered.

‘Because that makes you sound like a Womble, and furry creatures picking up litter is not the vibe we’re going for. Anyway, moving on to the actual business of the day, I’ve sent you a couple of pictures and a video we’re going to use online. They are on your phones now. Have a look at your email.’

Mary picked up her phone apprehensively, clicking on her email icon and selecting the one from Thomas. Opening it up, she caught her breath at what he’d sent them.

First, there was a picture of her and Tom saying their vows. It was the picture she’d seen on Thomas’s phone the day she’d woken up unexpectedly married, but Thomas had improved it. He’d cropped it closer around them and tweaked the light and the colour. Now instead of a snatched cheesy iPhone photo, it looked like a much more professional shot of a couple in the middle of the happiest moment of their lives.

‘Oh, Thomas, this is wonderful,’ Mary breathed, looking up at him, impressed beyond all measure. ‘We look… we look…’

Tom looked up from his own phone, his eyes wide. ‘We look like the happiest people in the world.’

‘You look like you’re madly in love with each other,’ said Thomas, preening a little. ‘It’s good, isn’t it? Even if I do say so myself. Have a look at the video – it’s Oscar-worthy.’

Mary went back to her email, seeing Tom look back down at his phone too. She clicked on the video icon, watching it open up on her screen.

It was the video of the kiss they shared after their vows. Mary watched as the little Mary and Tom on the screen gazed at each other then stepped forward and locked lips, his arms tight around her waist, hers crossed behind his neck, still holding her flowers, which somehow no longer looked cheap and nasty. Then she saw Tom smile against her lips and dip her backwards without breaking the kiss, saw herself elegantly bending backward, stretching out a leg to keep her balance. The video ended with them still in a clinch, Thomas having cut it before they collapsed on the floor in the original footage. Thomas was right when he’d described it as romantic and old Hollywood.

She played it again then looked up and across at Tom, who was gazing back at her, a gobsmacked expression on his face.

‘I can’t believe that’s us,’ she whispered.

‘I remember it,’ Tom said, unexpectedly. ‘Now I’ve seen the footage, I remember it.’

‘Do you? What do you remember?’

Tom looked down at his phone again and then back up at her. ‘It felt like it looks in the video. It felt magical and wonderful and… perfect.’

Mary felt herself blushing as she gazed back at him. ‘I'm a bit jealous that you remember it. I wish I remembered it. It looks so romantic.’

Thomas watched them, grinning to himself. ‘You two, you’re so cute.’

Mary flashed him a look then went back to her phone, watching the clip again.

‘The other photo I’ve sent you is a still of your clinch. I've cleaned it up, so it looks totally swoonworthy. I want you to change your relationship status and one of you can post the video while the other one posts the pictures. Make sure you tag each other so it appears on both of your walls. And, Mary, don't forget to change your name. Tom, you're a better writer than Mary, so you come up with the wording to announce your marriage, but run it past me before you post it. I want both the pictures and the video on Instagram, Mary, Twitter too if you want to. You can use Tom's wording once we've agreed on it or come up with something yourself but, again, check it with me before you post it. We’re going to do a proper photoshoot later, but I want one other picture for you to post today.’

‘What kind of picture?’

‘Don’t worry, it’s an easy one to get. I want a traditional wedding day shot of your hands with your rings on, especially now you’ve got that fabulous bit of bling you call an engagement ring.’

Thomas stood up, motioning Tom and Mary to join him in the middle of the office, going into director mode.

‘Right, Tom, stand behind Mary and put your arm around her waist. Yes, like that. Mary, I want you to rest your hand on his. No, at right angles. I need to be able to see both his ring and yours in the same shot. Yes, that’s better, just stay like that.’

Mary stood in the middle of the estate office, her back pressed flush against Tom’s warm, solid chest, Tom’s chin on her shoulder as they both watched Thomas take pictures of their wedding rings. Once again, it hit her how totally surreal this felt, how everything had changed in less than a week.

They’d been married now for about five days and she still didn’t really know how she felt about it all. Things had happened so quickly, one thing after another, everything snowballing like she’d told Thomas earlier. And now, it appeared, Thomas was building a marketing campaign around then, designed to let the world know she and Tom were blissfully happy newly-weds.

At some point, she needed to take some time and think about it properly. But not quite yet. Right now, she wasn’t sure she had the emotional energy to do that. For the moment, with Tom close up behind her, she felt safe, cocooned from the world, able to forget about the awful encounter with Edith this morning. She felt at peace for the first time since Edith stomped out in a snit, and she was just going to enjoy it for a while.


	17. Chapter 17

They dutifully followed Thomas’ instructions to the letter.

Tom posted the pictures, keeping it simple with the accompanying wording: _Married my best friend the other day. It doesn’t get better than that._

After some consultation with Thomas, Mary went with a quote from one of her favourite books. She posted the video with the words _Reader, I married him_ , plus a heart emoji.

Thomas also persuaded them to let him take two more photographs they could use for new profile pictures. The first was taken with them in the same stance he’d put them into to take the picture of the rings, Mary standing in front of Tom, his arm around her. In the photo, Tom was looking directly into the camera, a big smile on his face, while Mary turned her head to kiss his cheek. In the second picture, they were facing each other, Tom kissing the end of Mary’s nose while she rested her hand on his cheek, her engagement ring on display.

Thomas’ strategy worked like a charm as they watched likes and comments ratchet up, congratulations flooding in. Thomas posted the selfie of the four on them taken just before the wedding, alongside some words about how great it had been to watch these two crazy kids tie the knot. He also reposted, retweeted and regrammed from the official Downton Abbey social media accounts, which took off surprisingly well, even leading to enquiries about getting married at the estate.

As the clock ticked on towards the end of the school day, he persuaded Tom and Mary to do the school run together again instead of just one of them.

‘You’ve just told the world how happy you are, it’s time to follow it up with an in-person display of affection. Go pick up your kids, hold hands, bask in the complimentary comments that are going to flow from those posts. Play it like this is the romance of the century.’

Mary wrinkled her nose at him. ‘It’s not going to be like that up at the school gates. All that lot already know about us.’

Thomas smiled fondly at her. ‘Ah, you’re so naïve, my little chickadee. A picture is worth a thousand words. They might have known before, but today they’ve _seen_ the love. The magic is real. You wait and see. Now, off you trot, the pair of you.’

And when they got to the school gates, damned if Thomas wasn’t right. The waiting mothers swarmed to talk to the newly-weds, gushing about the pictures and the video, about how romantic it all was, the swoony kiss, Mary’s dress, her hair, even the fake flowers the chapel had lent her.

Mary kept her fingers laced with Tom’s, accepting the compliments, blushing at some of the comments, exchanging surprised looks with her new husband, listening to her friends and acquaintances tell them how cute they were together. It was all quite overwhelming, really.

* * *

‘I wish we still had servants working in the house,’ Mary said, wistfully, to her mother as they laid the table in the vast kitchen diner at Downton Abbey. ‘How wonderful it must have been to have people wait on you hand and foot all the time. Granny remembers having that, you know, in the early years of her marriage to Grandpapa.’

‘We do have cleaners, Mary, and a team of gardeners,’ Cora smiled, shaking her head at her daughter. ‘Although, I wouldn’t call them servants.’

‘Yes, but wouldn’t it be marvellous to have a cook to churn out the meals every night? It’s just so tiresome doing it ourselves.’

Cora laughed out loud at that. ‘Mary, darling, you hardly ever cook! It’s usually either me or Tom, so you have absolutely no room to complain about that.’

Mary had the good grace to grin at that. ‘Yes, well, I was thinking of you two and how it would make your life easier.’

‘Yes, of course, you were,’ Cora chuckled. She ducked a sideways glance at her daughter as she continued laying the cutlery on the table. ‘Actually, while it’s just the two of us here, I wanted to ask you something.’

‘Oh, yes?’

‘I saw your Facebook updates announcing your marriage earlier.’

‘Yes, Thomas helped us out with the photos and video.’

‘Were they real then? Was that really your wedding to Tom?’

Mary quirked an eyebrow at her mother. ‘Of course, it was. Thomas took the pictures and the video that night. What did you think, Mama? That we dressed up to recreate it in the office this afternoon?’

‘No, no, of course, I didn’t. It’s just that, well, it looked so real.’

Mary gave her mother a funny look. ‘It was real. You know that.’

‘No, I mean, you look like a real couple. A real couple deeply in love.’

Mary looked down, straightening an already straight place setting, avoiding her mother’s gaze. ‘Well, that’s the general idea, isn’t it? That we get people to believe we’re in love.’

‘But that picture of you two saying your vows. You both look so happy and you only have eyes for each other. And the kiss. Oh, that kiss, Mary!’

Mary paused, finally looking up at Cora. ‘It was quite something, wasn’t it?’

‘Oh, darling, it was… well, it was wow.’

Mary nodded. ‘Tom says he remembers it. He didn’t until he saw the clip, but now he does.’

‘But you don’t?’

‘No… but I kind of wish I did.’

‘What did Tom say about it?’

‘He said… he said it felt like it looks in the video. Magical. Perfect.’

Cora was silent for a minute, regarding her daughter thoughtfully.

‘Is that what you wanted to ask me, Mama? If the pictures and video were real?’

‘No, it isn’t. It’s just that they got me thinking. I know you said you and Tom weren’t seeing each other before you got married but-‘

‘I wasn’t lying to you. We weren’t.’

‘No, I’m not saying you weren’t telling the truth, but I am wondering; are you sure there isn’t more to your relationship? It’s just, well, I’ve never seen a kiss like that between two people who weren’t completely attracted to each other.’

Mary cocked her head, gazing contemplatively at her mother. ‘You think Tom is attracted to me?’

Cora moved around the table, taking Mary’s hands in hers. ‘Darling, if I didn’t know better, after seeing that video, I would say you were head over heels for each other. If a man looked at me or kissed me like Tom does you in those pictures and that bit of film, I’d be pretty sure it was love. And you were looking at him the same way.’

Mary stared back at Cora, taking in what she was saying. ‘You think we have feelings for each other?’

‘I don’t know, sweetheart, only you can answer that, but I’d say it’s worth thinking about it. If even a small part of you wants to explore a real relationship with Tom, I would say to you, go for it. I know Edith has a problem with the two of you being together, but I will tell you categorically that I do not. And I don’t think your father will either. Besides, you’re already married to each other. If he did have a problem with it, what could he do? Force you to divorce? I hardly think that’s likely.’

Mary bit her lip, looking away from her mother.

Cora shook Mary’s hands gently, bringing her attention back to her. ‘Do you have feelings for Tom? Romantic feelings, I mean.’

Mary sighed. ‘Honestly, Mama? I don’t know. Everything is so confusing at the moment. So much has happened so quickly. Tom… Tom… well, we have kissed a couple of times since we’ve been home, and something has changed. I do feel something. I’m just not sure what it is yet, whether it’s just a reaction to this situation we find ourselves in or something more, something real.’

Cora nodded, watching Mary’s face carefully. ‘I want you to be happy, Mary. If you think Tom can make you happy, then don’t be afraid to pursue that.’

‘But what if we try and it doesn’t work out? What will that do to us as a family, Mama?’

Cora pulled her daughter into her arms, hugging her tightly. ‘We will cross that bridge if we have to, but don’t you think you can’t go after what you want because of that. If you want him, Mary, go after him, go get your man because, between me and you, I think he might well be yours for the taking.’

Mary pulled back, looking at her mother in surprise. ‘Do you really think that?’

Cora smiled, pressing a kiss to Mary’s forehead. ‘I would bet the Grantham jewellery collection on it. Now, call the gannets down for dinner.’

Mary nodded at her mother, her mind trying to process this unexpected conversation. Yet another thing for her to think about.

The two women stepped apart, Cora moving to the kitchen area to dish up the dinner.

‘Alexa,’ Mary called, ‘tell every room that dinner is ready.’


	18. Chapter 18

After dinner, Sybbie and George begged and cajoled the rest of the family into playing Twister. Since discovering the game in the nursery, the pair of them had become obsessed, desperate to play at every opportunity. And it turned out they were quite the little team when it came to wheedling and negotiating, citing everything from the fact that it was Friday night to the fact that their parents had been in America the previous weekend to get their own way.

Robert was in charge of the spinner, claiming he was too old to be rolling around on the floor anymore. Cora joined in gamely, telling her husband if he did yoga with her when she asked him, he would be much more supple. Three games in and she was now perched on the arm of his chair after crashing out of this round of the game.

Mary was currently facing upwards, both hands on different colours, one leg bent with her foot flat on a coloured circle, the other stretching out straight, her heel on a different colour, thanking God for her Pilates class even as she began to feel her arms and thighs shaking. Tom was next to her, facing downwards in a V shape.

‘Tom, left hand, er, blue,’ Robert said.

‘Over here, Daddy! There’s a spare blue one next to me,’ Sybbie called from the other side of Mary.

Tom leaned over her, giving her a quick grin as he did so, reaching for the blue circle. The movement pulled him across Mary and as he stretched, the St Christopher around his neck slipped out of his shirt, dangling over Mary.

She gazed up at it, pulling in a sharp breath as she was suddenly seized by a brand new and extremely vivid memory of another time she saw that necklace dangling above her in a very different situation.

Tom glanced down at her. ‘Are you okay?’

‘Cramp,’ she said, quickly, trying to shove away the memory that had suddenly popped into her head.

‘Mary, right hand, blue,’ her father called.

Mary twisted her head, looking for the nearest empty blue circle. She tried to move her hand to it, supporting herself with her other hand and her legs, only for her bent leg to give out on her and she banged down on to her back, knocking the hand Tom had just placed on blue out from under him as she did so. He lost his balance, landing heavily across her.

‘Oooooof,’ said Mary, the breath knocked out of her, even as George and Sybbie screamed with laughter.

‘Sorry, sorry,’ Tom said, laughing as he tried to lever himself up without squashing her further.

‘Mind out, Dad, you nearly got me too,’ George called from the opposite corner of the mat to Mary, still giggling about the adults collapsing into a heap in front of him.

‘Sorry, George, but I’m squishing the life out of Mummy at the moment, so you might have to give me a bit of leeway.’

‘If you push up, I’ll try to wriggle out from underneath you,’ Mary said, feeling her cheeks warm up as she said it.

Tom grinned at her and did a push up, holding the position as Mary wiggled her way under his body, passing far too close to his groin for her scrambled brain to deal with right now.

‘Are you out?’ he called, just as she broke free.

‘Yes.’

Tom dropped back down on to the mat and commando crawled out of the other side, grinning as he popped up opposite Mary. ‘Well, that’s both of us out of the running for Twister champion.’

‘Yes, I’m just going to…’ said Mary, gesturing vaguely at the door, still distracted by the unexpected memory. ‘I’ll be back in a minute.’

She pushed herself to her feet and beat a retreat, needing a moment to herself to gather her wits. She took the stairs up to the gallery landing overlooking the Great Hall, coming to a halt to rest her forehead for a moment against the cool stone of the arched columns.

She closed her eyes, the newly retrieved memory playing in her mind. Tom holding himself above her, his necklace dangling in the space between them, his gaze locked on hers, a faint sheen of sweat on the bare skin of his chest. More details rushed back to her, swamping her. The feel of his hips bracketed between her thighs, his buttocks clenching under her hands, him pushing himself inside her.

‘Mary?’

She jerked her eyes open, pulling herself out of the memory, as she heard Tom’s voice. She turned around to see him coming up the stairs, walking across the landing to join her.

‘Are you all right? I didn’t hurt you when I landed on you, did I?’ he said, reaching out to put his hand on her shoulder in concern.

She shook her head. ‘No, I’m fine.’

‘Are you sure? What are you doing up here?’

‘I needed a minute,’ Mary said, her eyes skipping over his upper body before she met his eyes, seeing the bare chest from her memory instead of the shirt he was wearing. ‘I remembered something.’

He looked surprised. ‘About our missing night? Okay. What did you remember?’

Mary dropped her eyes to his St Christopher, still not quite tucked into his shirt. She reached out a hand to touch it. ‘Your necklace.’

Tom’s face scrunched in confusion. ‘You remembered my necklace? But I’ve always got that on.’

‘That night, in my room, after the wedding.’

‘You’ve lost me. What’s the significance of my necklace?’

Mary raised her eyes to his. ‘I remember it hanging over me. While we were having sex.’

Tom stared at her, his eyes widening. ‘You remember… you remember us having sex?’

Mary nodded, not breaking eye contact with him.

‘What do you remember?’ he asked, his voice low, curious.

‘I remember you above me. I remember the feel of you inside me,’ Mary whispered, holding his gaze, her fingers still toying with his necklace. ‘I remember arching up to meet you, trying to get you as deep inside me as I could.’

‘Jesus Christ,’ Tom groaned.

‘I remember it, Tom, not all of it, but enough. Enough to know that we definitely can't get an annulment.’ She paused, looking away from him as the memory replayed in her mind again.

‘Are you remembering it right now?’ Tom asked, watching her face.

‘Yes. The memory came back to me when you leaned over me downstairs and now it's like it's on repeat in my head.’

He hesitated before speaking again. ‘I might kick myself for asking this, but how was it?’

‘It was good. _Really_ good.’

‘Not just a drunken fumble?’

Mary looked straight at him, not hiding anything. ‘If what I remember was you drunkenly fumbling, then I really _really_ want to know what you’re like in bed when you’re not drunk.’

Tom stared at her, a slight flush rising in his cheeks. ‘God, don’t do this to me, Mary,’ he said, huskily.

‘What am I doing to you?’

‘I think you know.’

‘Tell me.’

‘Turning me on,’ he said, his voice low and rough.

Mary tightened her grip on his necklace, using it to pull him towards her, until he was only inches away from her. Tom rested his hands on the balcony behind her, one either side of her, boxing her in. Not a single part of them was touching but Mary felt like every nerve in her body was on fire.

‘I like knowing that I can turn you on,’ Mary said, her voice low and intimate, their faces so close she could feel his breath ghosting over her.

‘Do you?’

‘Yes, because it’s turning me on too. Between that and this new memory of Vegas, I’ve suddenly got a lot to think about.’

Mary saw Tom’s gaze drop to her lips before flitting back up to meet her eyes. She could see the desire on his face, and it thrilled her. She tugged gently on his necklace again, drawing him in until she could fit her lips to his, kissing him gently at first, then more forcefully.

Tom moaned low in the back of his throat, then pushed forward, pressing his body against hers. Mary gasped into his mouth, feeling his hands on her waist, and a hardness against her groin.

‘Mummy! Dad! Where are you? We’re waiting to play another game,’ George yelled from the library door.

Tom broke the kiss, resting his forehead against Mary’s. She closed her eyes and sighed before twisting her head slightly to shout over her shoulder to her son. ‘Won’t be a minute, George.’

She heard him go back into the library repeating her words to the rest of the family. She turned back to Tom.

‘We have crappy timing.’

He grinned ruefully at her. ‘We have kids.’

She nodded, distracted by him licking his lips. ‘Well, we’d better go down.’

Tom released her and stepped back. ‘You go on, I’ll be down in a minute. Can’t play Twister like this,’ he said waving a hand vaguely at his groin.

Mary grinned, shooting a glance at his crotch, a thrill racing through her. ‘No, definitely not. I might have offered to lend you a hand taking care of it, but I suspect George will come looking for us if one of us isn’t back downstairs in one minute flat.’

Tom groaned. ‘You are not helping, Mary. Go. Tell them I’m in the loo or something. I’ll be there as soon as I’ve got things under control.’

Mary pushed off the balcony, smiling at him. She leaned in to press a quick kiss to the corner of his mouth. ‘Don’t be too long. You know you’re George’s favourite person at the moment.’

‘I won’t, I promise.’

Mary set off, pausing at the top of the stairs to look back at him. ‘You know, Tom, I don’t remember how it ended, our drunken fumble. Maybe one day in the not-too-distant future, we could find out.’

Tom stared at her, a pained smile spreading across his face. ‘I think that’s a brilliant idea, Mary, one I’m really on board with but, honestly, you saying that to me right now is really not helping me with my current problem.’

Mary smirked at him. ‘No, of course, it isn’t, sorry. You crack on and do whatever you need to do. I’ll tell George you’ll be about five minutes.’

Tom nodded, flapping his hands at her. ‘Go on, go.’

Mary ran down the stairs, looking up to see Tom brace his arms against the balcony, dropping his head as if willing away his problem. She grinned to herself, thinking about his predicament and what had just happened. She didn’t know yet what feelings might be swirling about between them, but she knew sexual attraction when she saw it and, more to the point, felt it. And that was definitely there, bubbling away between them.


	19. Chapter 19

'That was Kieran,' Tom said the next morning, ending his call and turning to Mary. 'Mammy's in the hospital. She's fallen off a step ladder and she must have come off it with an almighty thump because she’s broken her leg, sprained her wrist and given herself a concussion.'

'Oh, my God!' Mary said, shocked. 'Poor Pat! That sounds awful.'

‘I have to go over there and see her,’ Tom said, pacing up and down in the library. ‘Kieran’s absolutely furious with her. She was putting up a new curtain pole, apparently. Said he’d told her to wait for him to come round and he’d do it for her. You know Mammy, though. Never can leave a job undone.’

‘Of course, you should go,’ Mary said, her eyes tracing his movements back and forth in front of the window.

‘Apart from anything else, I need to run interference between the two of them. You know what Kieran’s like when he’s got a bee in his bonnet. He won’t let her hear the end of it and that’s the last thing she needs at the moment.’

‘Tom, Tom, just stop for a minute,’ Mary said, reaching out to take hold of his hand as he passed her yet again. ‘Just stop and breathe for a minute. She’s going to be all right, isn’t she?’

Tom stopped pacing and blew out a breath, running his hand through his hair. ‘Yes, she’ll be fine. She needs to be careful because of the concussion. They’re keeping her in the hospital overnight to monitor her and she’s in pain, of course. She says it hurts a bit to breathe, so they think she might have banged up her ribs in the fall. It’ll take time for her to recover, but she’ll be fine.’

‘Right, then focus on that,’ Mary said, soothingly, catching hold of his other hand too. ‘You go pack a bag and I’ll book you a flight to Dublin from Leeds Bradford for later today.’

‘What about work? And the kids?’

‘Don’t worry about any of that. I can sort all of that out.’

‘I don’t know how long I’ll be gone. I can’t just settle her in back from the hospital and hop on a plane back home. Especially not if Kieran is still giving out to her for being an eejit.’

‘It’s fine, darling, you take as long as you need. Don’t worry about anything here, I’ll take care of it.’

‘You’re sure?’

‘Of course, I am. I have Mama and Papa here to help with the kids if I need them to and Thomas and Anna can pick up some stuff in the office if necessary. Go and be with your mother. If anything’s going to make her feel better, seeing your face will.’

Tom gazed at her, then lifted his hand to stroke her cheek with the back of his finger. ‘What would I do without you?’

Mary felt her heart skip in her chest at the tender gesture. ‘Well, luckily for you, you don’t have to find out. Now go and pack. And you might want to tell Sybbie what’s happened. She might have time to make a get well soon card for her Granny Pat.’

Tom nodded then pulled her into a tight hug. ‘Thank you,’ he said in her ear. ‘I really don’t deserve you.’

Mary squeezed him tighter, breathing in his scent. ‘Don’t be silly. Of course, you do. Now go on, I have a flight to book.’

Tom drew back, dropping a soft, tentative kiss on her cheek and headed off, calling for Sybbie. Mary watched him go then pulled her phone out of her pocket to find him a flight.

* * *

Mary sat on the back doorstep of the office, her coat pulled around her, her hands cradled around her coffee cup, staring out across the rolling fields surrounding them.

‘You all right, babe?’ Thomas said, stubbing the butt of his cigarette out and shoving it into the little receptacle Mary had got one of the handymen to attach to the wall when she got sick of fag ends all over the place. He pulled a packet of mints from his pocket and shoved one in his mouth. ‘You’re quiet today.’

‘I’m all right,’ she said. ‘Just thinking.’

‘Penny for them,’ Thomas said, wedging himself down onto the step beside her. ‘Budge up, there’s room for a little one on this thinking step if you shift your arse up a bit.’

Mary shuffled sideways, making room for him.

‘I was just thinking about Tom and wondering how he’s getting on in Ireland.’

Thomas couldn’t help the little smile that snuck onto his face. He nudged Mary’s shoulder. ‘You missing him?’

She gave him the sideways eyes. ‘Are you going to give me shit if I say yes?’

‘Me? Never! As if I would ever do such a thing,’ said Thomas, painting an innocent expression on his face. ‘Actually, I think it would be rather nice if you’re missing him.’

Mary pulled a face at him. ‘Thanks very much. Nice to know you want me to be miserable.’

Thomas grinned and stuck his arm around her shoulders. ‘Aw, are you admitting to being miserable without him? That is so sweet. I knew there was something there between you two crazy kids.’

‘Shut up,’ Mary said, elbowing him in his side and shaking his arm off her. ‘It’s not like that. Well, it’s not quite like that.’

‘So, what is it like? And please don’t tell me you miss him like a friend or a brother because I know that’s a bloody lie. What’s going on with you two? Tell me you’re finally getting it together.’

Mary cocked her head at him. ‘You think we should be together too?’

‘Babe, I’ve thought that for years. That’s why I bought your tale about you two having a secret affair without smelling a rat. So, are you finally slipping between the sheets with him?’

Mary shook her head. ‘No, but some things have happened. Some kissing and…’

‘And? And what? Come on, Mary, I’m on tenterhooks here! Don’t leave me hanging. Give me the good stuff!’

Mary chuckled. ‘You are such a nosy git.’

‘Hey, I’m just being a good friend. I’m about the only person you can talk to about this stuff because I’m one of the few people who knows the truth about you two.’

Mary gave him a look.

‘All right, all right, maybe you’re right about me being a nosy git, but I'm right too. So, come on, spill. You’ve had a bit of a snog, yeah? And what else?’

Mary turned her head, grinning at Thomas ‘You know, I am so tempted to leave you hanging.’

Thomas pouted at her.

‘Oh, all right. We haven’t done anything more than kiss, but we did have a bit of a moment when I told him I remembered our wedding night.’

‘Whoa, wait, back up! You remember your wedding night? Like the did you/didn’t you bit?’ Thomas said, his eyes wide. ‘Why didn’t you lead with that? So, come on, did you?’

Mary grinned at him. ‘We did.’

Thomas slapped his hand on his knee. ‘I knew it! I told you you did, didn’t I? I knew there was no way you two hadn’t shagged that night.’

Mary chuckled at how excited Thomas was about her memory of that night coming back. ‘You are far too invested in my relationship with Tom.’

‘Well, now I’ve found my soulmate, I’m never going to go through those heady early stages again, am I? I’m living vicariously. So, stop stalling and tell me how it was.’

‘I’m not giving you details, Thomas.’

‘I’m not after all the ins and outs, Mary,’ Thomas said, ignoring Mary’s groan as she covered her eyes. He bumped her shoulder again, nudging her with his elbow. ‘But you can at least tell me if it was good.’

Mary pressed her lips together, trying to stifle a grin. ‘Yes, it was good.’

Thomas clapped his hands together in delight. ‘Oh, my boy’s got game! Did he make your toes curl?’

‘Thomas!’ Mary laughed, feeling herself blush. ‘I’m not telling you that!’

‘You don’t need to. I’m taking that as a yes. So, tell me about this moment you had.’

Mary sighed. ‘I told him what I remembered, and things got a bit heated but then George interrupted us. It was definitely going somewhere until then. We were both feeling it.’

‘But now he’s in Ireland and you’re here.’

‘Yes.’

‘Well, he’ll be back soon then you guys can pick up where you left off.’

Mary hesitated. ‘What if he doesn’t want to? What if it was just a moment?’

Thomas looked at her. ‘Was it just a moment for you? Or do you want to take it further?’

Mary returned Thomas’s gaze. ‘Honestly? I can’t stop thinking about it. About him. But I don’t know if he feels the same.’

‘You haven’t talked about it since then?’

‘No. For all I know, he might not have given it a second thought.’

Thomas put his arm around her, pulling her into him. ‘Oh, Mary, for a smart cookie, you can be so dense sometimes. Tom’s nuts about you; I’d bet my last pound coin on that.’

‘Why? Has he said something to you?’ Mary mumbled into Thomas’ shoulder.

‘No, but he doesn’t need to. I see the way he looks at you. I’ll tell you something else, too,’ he said, tapping her engagement ring. ‘I may be gayer than a yellow duster, but I do know no man spends that kind of money on a ring for a woman he’s not interested in. Believe me, you don’t need to worry about Tom going cold on you.’

Mary looked down at her ring. ‘You really think so?’

Thomas snorted. ‘Trust me, if you want to jump his bones when he comes home, there ain’t no way he’s going to turn you down.’

Mary chuckled. ‘Oh, Thomas, you certainly know how to bring out the romance in the situation.’

‘Hey, if you want hearts and flowers, you go for it, girl. I just thought you might want him to make your toes curl again.’

Mary swatted his leg, still chuckling. ‘Thomas! Honestly, I don’t know why I tell you anything.’

‘It’s because I am full of wise words and sage advice, but mostly it's because you love me’ Thomas grinned, pulling her in close again and pressing a kiss to the top of her head.

Mary grinned, slipping an arm around his waist. ‘I kind of do, God help me.’


	20. Chapter 20

‘They’re finally in bed, the little monkeys’ Mary said, settling herself back against her headboard, grabbing a pillow and propping her iPad on it, resting the back of the tablet against her bent legs. ‘Even George, although he had a bit of a strop because he knew I was going to call you back.’

Tom grinned at her through the screen. ‘Can’t say as I miss having to deal with the bedtime drama. Don’t have that problem here. Mammy just says she’s tired and I stand behind her as she goes up the stairs, ready to catch her if she stumbles. No fuss, no negotiation, no whining. It’s bliss.’

‘I hate you,’ Mary said, smiling back at him. ‘It’s never like that here. It’s like a running battle every night.’

‘I know. That’s why I’m savouring these few days in Dublin.’

‘Don’t think I’m being pushy or anything, but do you know yet when you’re coming back? The kids have been asking me non-stop. I’ve told them to be patient and that Granny Pat needs you at the moment, but you know what they’re like. They miss you. We all do.’

‘Ah, well, I do have news there. Kieran rang while you were putting the kids to bed. He says he’ll take over here at the weekend, so I’ll come home on Friday.’

Mary smiled, feeling her spirits lift at the thought of him coming home in a couple of days. ‘Oh, that’s great! Have you booked a flight then?’

‘I was just about to before you called back. It looks like the only one with availability doesn’t get in until 10 pm or so.’

‘Right,’ Mary nodded, then pulled a face. ‘Oh, Friday night, did you say? Damn.’

‘Yes, is that a problem?’

‘We’ve got one of Papa’s Lord Lieutenant things in York on Friday night. It’s been in the diary for ages. I don’t think I can get out of it. It means I won’t be able to come and pick you up.’

‘Do you want me to wait until Saturday to come home? Will that be easier?’

‘No! No, come home on Friday. I’m sure Thomas will pick you up if you ask him. Or Anna if he’s busy. George and Sybbie will be thrilled if you’re here when they wake up on Saturday morning.’

‘Okay, I’ll book it then and give Thomas a bell. If the worst comes to the worst, I can always get a taxi. Tell Robert I’m sorry to miss his dinner.’

‘I’ll tell him, but I don’t think he was expecting you to make it back in time anyway.’

Tom hesitated for a moment before speaking again. ‘What are you going to wear to the dinner?’

‘I was thinking I might wear that floor-length midnight blue dress.’

‘The one with the really low back?’

‘Yes, that’s the one. What do you think?’

‘I’ve always thought you look sexy as hell in that dress.’

Mary stared at him, her heart tripping faster in her chest. ‘Have you?’

‘Yes. I can barely take my eyes off you when you wear that.’

‘You’ve never said that before.’

‘Well, it would have been inappropriate when I was your brother-in-law,’ he said, a faint smirk on his face. ‘Just like you sitting on my lap used to be.’

Mary smiled, catching her lower lip between her teeth. ‘And what, exactly, do you like about that dress?’

‘I like how it’s all demure at the front and pure sex in the back.’

Mary’s smile grew wider. ‘Really?’

‘Really. The way it’s cut right down to the small of your back. All that creamy white skin on show. It does things to me.’ He paused for a few seconds, looking directly into her eyes through the screen. ‘Makes me want to do things to you.’

Mary felt her stomach flip. ‘Oh, yes? What kind of things?’

‘Things that would have been wildly inappropriate for a brother-in-law.’

‘But not for a husband?’ Mary breathed.

‘No, not for a husband.’

Mary gazed at him, her heart beating faster. ‘Tell me more. What does it make you want to do?’

‘It makes me want to touch you. Run my hand down your back and slip my fingers under the edge of the material. Hold you still while I kiss your shoulders, the back of your neck, your shoulder blades. I want to make my way slowly down your back. Very slowly. I want to take my time kissing, licking and nuzzling every inch of all that beautiful, smooth skin of yours.’

Mary shivered, lust pooling in her stomach.

Tom didn’t miss her reaction. ‘Yes, just like that, Mary,’ he said, his voice pitched low and intimate. ‘I want to make you shiver just like that under my lips. Feel you react to me touching you. I want to know that I can do that to you, make you feel like that.’

‘Mmhhhmmmm. And then what would you do?’

‘That would depend very much on where we were. If I was with you on Friday night and you were in that dress, I might have taken you off somewhere private to put my lips all over that sinfully gorgeous back of yours. I might have set your body on fire and then left you on edge for the rest of the night, all het up but no way to do anything about it until we got home.’

Mary stared at him, swallowing hard, liking this new side of Tom. ‘That’s… that’s actually really sexy.’

‘And because I’m your husband now, I could keep touching you all evening, keep you on edge. I could put my hand on the small of your back, trace circles on your skin, slip the tips of my fingers under the edge of that dress. Give you goosebumps everywhere I touch you. Nobody would bat an eyelid at me touching my new wife like that. Intimate but socially acceptable. Only you and I would know what else we’d been doing and what the constant touching was doing to you. To both of us.’

‘Oh, my God, Tom,’ Mary breathed. ‘If there’s any chance you can get an earlier flight home, get it.’

He laughed on his end of the connection, a low, sexy sound that went straight to Mary’s loins. ‘I will, but I already looked and there wasn’t anything.’

‘I don’t think I can wear that dress on Friday after all. Not after that. I’d be turned on all night just thinking about everything you’ve just said.’

‘Maybe you can wear it just for me one day.’

‘There’s no maybe about it. I’ll wear it, you can do all that to me – although I might have to hang on to a chair or something otherwise I’ll never be able to stand still for long enough – and then you can take the dress off me.’

‘Or maybe I won’t. Maybe I’ll leave the dress on you and make love to you while you’re still wearing it, while you’re still holding on to that chair.’

‘Oh, my God,’ Mary groaned, her voice shaking. ‘This is so unfair. Why are you in Dublin? I wish you were here right now.’

‘So do I. Believe me, Mary, so do I.’

‘Is this revenge for the other night when I had to leave you on the landing all turned on?’

Tom chuckled. ‘No, but I like knowing I can turn you on too.’

‘Oh, you can, take my word for it. I am so turned on right now and you’re not even here to take advantage of it.’

‘No, but I will be soon.' He locked eyes with her, desire writ large on his face. 'I want this to happen between us, Mary.’

Mary took a deep, shuddery breath. ‘So do I.’

‘I want to take you to bed. There are so many things I want to do to you, do with you.’

‘Oh, God, Tom.’

‘But I want to remember it this time. And I want you to remember it. All of it, not just brief flashes.’

‘I want that too, but don’t knock the brief flashes. I like the part of our wedding night I can remember. I _really_ like it.’

‘I’m glad you do, but when this happens, when we finally sleep together, it will be like our first time. I know technically we've already had sex, but this will be the first time where we're both completely conscious of what we’re doing and we're making a choice to do it.’

‘I know,' Mary nodded, holding his gaze. 'I’m so glad you’ll be home soon. I’ve missed you.’

‘I’ve missed you too. If I’m honest, I think about you all the time.’

Mary swallowed. ‘I’ve been thinking about you too.’

Tom smiled, his eyes twinkling. ‘Good. I’d hate to think you’d not given me a second thought, while I’ve been sitting here spending all my time mooning over you like a schoolboy.’

Mary chuckled, smiling back at him. ‘No chance of that, not with everything that’s happened lately.’

‘It’s been a rollercoaster, hasn’t it?’

‘You can say that again.’

He looked away, a knock and faint voice off-screen snagging his attention. He turned back to Mary, an apologetic look on his face. ‘I’ve got to go. Mammy needs me.’

‘Okay, go. Say hi to your mum for me. Give her all our love. We’re all glad she’s feeling better.’

‘I will. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.’

‘Yes, definitely. Sleep well, Tom.’

‘Sweet dreams, darlin’,’ Tom said, blowing her a kiss, and then he was gone, the connection broken.

Mary tipped her head back, going over everything he’d said, a smile playing on her face, anticipation zipping around her body. Their conversation had put some of her worries to rest and now she could hardly wait for him to come home.


	21. Chapter 21

‘All right, Tommy boy? Good flight? How’s your ma?’ Thomas asked as Tom slung his bag in the back seat and then dropped into the passenger seat.

‘Yeah, she’s doing all right, thanks. The flight was not bad. Short, you know. Thanks for picking me up, Thomas, I appreciate it.’

‘No worries, mate. I’d have done it anyway, you know that, but Mary also scares me a bit, so there was no way I was going to leave you stranded up here on this wild, windy hill in the middle of the night. She’d have had my bollocks for breakfast.’

Tom chuckled. ‘Oi, that’s my wife you’re talking about.’

‘I know, but seriously, tell me you don’t feel the same when she’s on one? Best to keep her sweet, stay on her right side. No picking fights, yeah?’

Tom grinned at him. ‘Are you giving me relationship advice? I can handle Mary, don’t you worry.’

Thomas raised an eyebrow. ‘Yeah? They sound like famous last words, my friend. I will remind you of them when you’re crying into your beer on my sofa one night after she’s emasculated you with some choice words when she’s asked you if her bum looks big in something and you’ve accidentally said the wrong thing.’

‘Never gonna happen. Her bum looks amazing in everything,’ Tom said, still grinning.

Thomas made a gagging noise. ‘Boy, have you got it bad. You’re definitely still in the honeymoon phase.’

‘Can you have a honeymoon phase when you haven’t had a honeymoon?’

Thomas pulled up at the barrier to get out of the airport parking, frowning at the parking charge on the display. ‘Christ, how much? Have you seen that? Bloody daylight robbery. I’ve been in this car park for exactly five minutes and they’re charging me that much? Robbing bastards.’

Tom opened Apple Pay on his phone. ‘Here, waft that in front of it.’

Thomas took his phone, holding it in front of the scanner. ‘I just think it’s outrageous that they’re charging that much for picking someone up. It’s practically a stick-up, is what it is.’

Tom took his phone back, rolling his eyes at Thomas’s diatribe. ‘So, what have I missed while I’ve been away?’

‘Besides your missus moping into her coffee every day? Not much.’

Tom tried to hide a smile. ‘Has she been moping?’

‘Mate, she’s been proper pining for your Irish arse. I’ve had to be the twinkliest star in the universe to distract her from it all. I mean, I probably need a week off to recover.’ Thomas glanced over at the passenger seat. ‘You two are making a go of it, then? She said you’d had a moment.’

Tom looked over at him, only half-surprised that Mary had confided in Thomas. ‘Did she? Which moment did she tell you about?’

‘Oh, so there’s been more than one, has there? This was apparently the night before you left for your mum’s, when she told you she remembered the good bits of your wedding night. Why? How many other moments have there been?’

‘We might have had a few moments over FaceTime this week,’ Tom said, coyly.

Thomas shot a bony elbow out, poking it into Tom’s side. ‘You’ve been having phone sex, haven’t you, you mucky git?’ he crowed, gleefully. ‘That would explain why she perked up a bit this last day or so. You’ve been talking dirty to her of an evening!’

Tom chuckled. ‘I won’t dignify that with an answer.’

‘Ha, you don’t need to! I see your game, charming your way into her knickers with all your silver-tongued blarney. Getting her all riled up ready for your grand return. Smart play, Branson. I take my hat off to you. Didn’t know you had it in you.’

‘Um, thanks? I’m not sure if that’s a compliment or not.’

‘Well, whatever you’ve done, it’s working. She’s missed you this week and I’m not talking about any brother-in-law/sister-in-law/best friends shite. She’s definitely not thinking of you like that anymore, that’s for sure.’

‘Actually, Thomas, there’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you.’

‘Oh aye? Go on then, what is it?’

‘That night in Vegas when Mary and I got married, you remember most of it, don’t you?’

‘Yep. Seems like I’m the only one of us that does.’

‘Were you there when I asked her to marry me? I mean, if I even asked her. For all I know, she asked me. Will you tell me what you remember?’

Thomas nodded, keeping his eyes on the road. ‘I was wondering when one of you was going to ask me that. I was there and I do remember it, in all its technicolour glory. You asked her.’

‘I did? I mean, I thought I probably did, but, you know, I've got no memory of it.’

‘Well, let me paint a picture for you, my friend. We were in that club, the four of us, dancing and drinking. You and Mary were all over each other, dirty dancing together, when that Bruno Mars track came on, you know, that Marry You one? Well, we were all yelling the words and jumping about, then when it finished, you just said, ‘Fuck it’, and got down on one knee and asked Mary to marry you.’

Tom stared at him. ‘What? Just like that? Out of the blue?’

‘Yeah, I mean, you certainly had the element of surprise working for you. It was a bit weird though, almost like the song had put the idea in your head.’

‘And what happened then?’

‘We all looked at you like you’d lost the plot and pissed ourselves laughing, of course. You were on one knee looking like a dickhead if you asked me or a kicked puppy according to Anna, then Mary stopped laughing, perched on your knee, said ‘Why not?’ then proceeded to snog the living daylights out of you.’

‘Yeah?’

‘Yeah. Me and Anna stood there gobsmacked while all the Yanks around us started cheering, then Batesy got all dewy-eyed over the pair of you, while I was left wondering what the bloody hell was going on.’

‘So, it was all very in the moment then.’

Thomas side-eyed his friend. ‘Well, it would have been, wouldn’t it? Unless you’re about to confess that you’d been planning to ask her. Is that what you’re saying?’

‘No! No, of course, not. I hadn't been planning anything.’

‘But you’re not telling me that you didn’t already have feelings for her, are you?’

Tom looked down, fiddling with his phone, avoiding Thomas’s frequent sideways glances.

‘Ah, come on, Tom. You’re married to her now, you might as well tell me. I mean, nobody proposes to someone they haven’t at least thought about getting jiggy with before.’

Tom hesitated before answering. ‘Okay, yes, I hadn’t been thinking about proposing to her or anything – that was entirely down to the booze, believe me – but my feelings for her had shifted. I wasn’t thinking about her like a brother-in-law should. Hadn’t done for a while.’

‘How long is a while?’

‘I don’t know. It’s not like I had a light-bulb moment; it was a gradual thing. Then maybe sometime in the summer, I remember thinking how very screwed I was because I wanted to be with her, but it just seemed impossible because she was Sybil’s sister, and that just complicated everything.’

‘Big fly in the ointment, eh?’

‘Yes, you could say that. Mary’s nothing like Sybil-‘

‘Ain’t that the truth,’ Thomas said, nodding his head fervently.

‘- so I didn’t feel weird about that, but I didn’t know what she was thinking or how she’d react if I tried to make a move.’

Thomas thought about that for a few minutes. ‘Given what’s happened and how she said yes to you in about thirty seconds flat, I’d hazard a guess that she hasn’t been thinking about you as a brother-in-law for a while either. Whether she realised it or not. Have you not talked about any of this since you got hitched?’

Tom shook his head. ‘No. It’s all been a whirlwind of making up a fake relationship and telling people we’re together now. Then, of course, there was all this stuff with Mammy taking me off to Dublin.’

‘You gonna talk about it with her? Find out what she’s been thinking?’

Tom shrugged. ‘Maybe. I think it’s more important to make sure we’re on the same page now.’

‘Well, if nothing else, this impromptu marriage of yours means you don’t have to fanny about working up the nerve to tell her how you feel anymore. You’ve got a standing start on that now.’

‘Looks like it, yes.’

‘Well, not to come over all big brother-y or anything, but don’t fuck it up. If you hurt her, I’ll be forced to hurt you, and I’m too pretty to go to prison,’ Thomas said, trying to sound menacing.

Tom snorted. ‘Right, okay. Consider me warned, but I don’t think you have to worry about that. It’s far more likely she’ll break my heart than the other way round.’

‘Ah, now, don’t say that because then I’d have to give her the same speech. And while I’m pretty sure I could take you down, I’m equally sure that Mary could beat the crap out of both of us. Don’t make me have to test that theory because she’s broken your heart. Just try not to get any hearts broken, yeah? Then I don’t have to get involved.’

‘You don’t have to get involved at all, you dick!’ Tom laughed. ‘We’re big enough to handle this ourselves.’

‘I know, but you’re my friends, I want you to be happy.’

‘I know, mate, I know,’ Tom said, patting Thomas on his arm. ‘Thank you.’

‘Right, well, don’t you forget that. I mean, if the Dowager forces you to have that blessing and you need a best man, just think on. Who’s had your back all this time?’

Tom grinned. ‘Kieran might have something to say about that.’

‘Shit, I’d forgotten about your brother. I’m not sure I could take him down if it came to a fight for who’d be your best man. He might be little, but he’s scrappy.’

Tom laughed at that. ‘Yep, Kieran would definitely win that battle.’

‘Maybe Mary would let me be her maid of honour instead,’ Thomas mused. ‘I mean, I’m definitely higher up the list than Edith, and I can pull rank on Anna. Plus, I look amazing in pastel colours. And strong colours, come to think of it. I can wear almost anything.’

‘Well, if it comes up, ask her,’ Tom said, companionably, ‘but I wouldn’t hold your breath. Mary was quite adamant we won’t be having a blessing.’

‘Ah, but that was before she really knew that she’s either already in love with you or falling in love with you. Plus, you underestimate the Dowager at your peril, Tom. We both know that.’

Tom cut a look at Thomas. ‘You think Mary’s in love with me?’

‘You poor lovesick fool,’ Thomas said, pityingly. ‘Can’t see what’s right in front of you. Well, I can and if that girl’s not in love with you yet, she’s definitely part of the way there. You just need to make her fall the whole way, and it seems like you’ve been doing a fine job of that so far.’

‘You think so?’

‘I know so. I know Mary’s excited to get you home. I know she’s a bundle of anticipation about what’s happening between the two of you. All you’ve got to do is not mess this up. And I don’t think you’re about to do that, are you?’

Tom shook his head. ‘No, I’m not. I’m serious about her, Thomas. I love her.’

Thomas grinned and reached out to pat his friend’s knee. ‘Tell me something I don’t know. Then go and get her. She’s waiting for you.’


	22. Chapter 22

Mary picked up a champagne coupe and sipped at it, looking around the room at the guests mingling and networking. She checked her watch again. Tom should be at the airport in Dublin now, that little bit closer to coming home.

‘Well, if it isn’t Mary Crawley,’ an entitled oily voice said behind.

Mary gritted her teeth and pasted on a smile before turning around. ‘Larry. How are you?’

‘Although, if I hear correctly, it’s not Crawley anymore,’ Larry Grey continued as if Mary hadn’t spoken. ‘A little birdie told me you’ve gone slumming, just like your sister did. In fact, worse than that, you’ve not only trawled the same slum as your sister, you've married the self-same Irish oik. I mean, I’ve heard of keeping it in the family, but you’re really taking that to a ridiculous and quite unsavoury degree, don’t you think? It’s practically incest, rutting where your sister's been.’

‘I see you haven’t changed at all,’ Mary said, icily, trying to hang on to her temper. ‘Still a constant disappointment to your poor father. How a lovely man like Dickie managed to beget an abomination like you is beyond me.’

‘I can’t imagine your father is proud of you for marrying your sister’s leavings. It’s all so very embarrassing and working class. You could have just slept with him on the quiet, Mary, kept him as your pet bit of rough, you know. You didn’t have to marry him.’ Larry pulled back and blatantly looked her up and down, leering at her. ‘It’s such a waste to think of those rather spectacular legs wrapped around that bogtrotter. I can’t imagine what he’s got that keeps you Crawley women so intrigued.’

‘Maybe you don’t understand because he’s a thousand times the man you are. Much more of a gentleman than you could ever hope to be,’ Mary said, smiling sweetly at Larry. ‘Oh, and he’s incredible in bed, which is more than I’ve heard about you from several unfortunate and _very_ unsatisfied mutual friends.’

Larry gawped at her, turning bright red.

‘It’s such a shame,’ Mary continued, balling her fist and crooking her little finger at him, as she began to back away into the crowd. ‘But even if there’s nothing you can do about the size of it, at least there’s Viagra to help with that other little problem these days. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’d rather not waste my time conversing with petty, jealous, little men.’

She spun gracefully around and sashayed away from the sputtering, red-faced Larry Grey, glad to have had the last word. She spotted her mother talking to several local MPs, while her father was deep in conversation with a high-ranking army officer and the mayor of York. If Tom was with her, she might actually be enjoying this occasion. As it was, she couldn’t settle, too conscious of the fact that Tom was on his way home.

Mary downed her champagne and picked up another glass from one of the waiters wandering around with trays of bubble-filled glasses. She glanced at her watch again. Still, several hours to go until he landed in Yorkshire and she had the dinner, speeches and more networking to get through yet. She took another swig of champagne.

‘I saw you had the misfortune of getting cornered by the unctuous Larry Grey,’ another voice said from behind her.

Mary turned around with a smile. ‘Aunt Rosamund! You made it! Papa said your train was delayed.’

Rosamund exchanged kisses with her niece. ‘Yes, the overhead lines were down at Retford again. It seems to happen every other time I come north. You’d think they’d just replace the blasted things. I barely had time to check in to my hotel and get changed.’

‘A hotel? Aren’t you staying with us at Downton?’

‘That was the original plan, but the delay meant I needed somewhere to get changed, so I called from the train and made a reservation. I shall stay in York tonight and come through to Downton tomorrow. But enough about me and my sleeping arrangements. I must confess that I am more interested in you and your new sleeping arrangements.’

Mary blushed. ‘Aunt Rosamund!’

Rosamund flashed her an amused smile. ‘I hear congratulations are in order, my dear. I must confess I was surprised to hear of a wedding.’

‘You and the rest of the world. Granny is most put out with us for having got married without her being there.’

‘Well, you know there’s no show without Punch, Mary. Mama always does like to think nothing important can happen without her being present. It’s good to disabuse her of that notion now and again.’

‘She’s making noises about us having a blessing.’

‘Is she indeed? Well, while I would be happy to buy a new hat for the occasion, I’m rather inclined to encourage you to resist just to put her nose out of joint,’ Rosamund said, with a mischievous smile. ‘Anyway, enough of Mama and her machinations. Tell me about you and Tom. I didn’t detect anything more than the usual level of affection and touchy-feeliness between you the last time I was in Yorkshire. Plus, Cora had standing orders to keep me informed of any developments between the two of you and she didn’t breathe a word until she called to tell me of your marriage.’

Mary looked at her aunt in surprise. ‘What? You expected Tom and I to get together?’

Rosamund chuckled. ‘Oh, my dear, I’m neither blind nor stupid. I’ve been expecting it for some time now in much the same way as I expect the sun to rise in the east every morning. I just didn’t expect the first I’d hear of it would be news of a wedding in Las Vegas. I’ll admit that did rather take me by surprise.’

‘It took us by surprise too.’

‘Yes, I gather from your mama that it was an impromptu affair.’

‘It was definitely that.’

‘Then you must tell me the story behind it. It’s the least you can do after sneaking abroad to avoid having your family at your wedding,’ Rosamund smiled.

Mary nodded, glancing around to check nobody was close enough to hear their conversation. ‘If I tell you the real story, you must promise not to repeat it to anyone.’

‘Goodness, it sounds like something is afoot. Have I stumbled across some intrigue here?’

‘Promise, Aunt Rosamund. Only Mama, Papa and Thomas know what I'm about to tell you. Mama will kill me if it becomes common knowledge.’

Rosamund raised her eyebrows, her eyes round. ‘I promise, Mary. I won’t breathe a word to a living soul.’

Mary took another quick glance around. ‘We were drunk. Neither Tom nor I remember a single thing about the wedding,’ she whispered in her aunt’s ear.

Rosamund’s mouth twitched and then she began to laugh. ‘Really?’

Mary nodded, glancing around again. ‘Yes, really. Mama thinks people will gossip about us if they know the truth and it will spoil Edith’s wedding.’

‘Oh, Mary, people will gossip about a Vegas wedding between a brother and sister-in-law anyway. I don’t know why Cora’s got her knickers in a twist about that.’

‘It’s because we weren’t actually in a relationship when we got married,’ Mary hissed at her aunt by way of explanation.

Rosamund laughed harder, clutching onto her niece’s arm as Mary looked anxiously around them.

‘I wish I hadn’t told you now.’

‘Oh, no, darling, no,’ Rosamund wheezed, attempting to get her mirth under control. ‘It’s just… well, it just goes to show, doesn’t it?’

‘Goes to show what?’ asked Mary, confused.

‘How strong the attraction between you and Tom is that you would marry each other before you do anything else. I take it you are in a relationship now?’

Mary blushed again. ‘We’re… well, we’re… yes, kind of. We’re getting there, I think.’

‘Have you slept with him yet?’

‘Aunt Rosamund! You… you can’t ask me that!’ Mary said, shocked.

Rosamund chuckled again. ‘Oh, Mary, don’t be such a prude. Sex is important in a relationship and the two of you definitely have sexual chemistry. There's no point in being married to the man if you don’t indulge in a little fun between the sheets. So have you?’

Mary smiled, even though she was still somewhat shocked by her aunt’s comments. ‘Not yet.’

‘But you intend to?’

‘Yes. Things have got a little heated between us over the last week or so.’

‘But I thought Tom was in Dublin.’

‘He is.'

'Ah, I see. You've been enjoying a little phone sex, have you? How very delicious.'

'Rosamund!'

'As shocking as you may find it, Mary, I know from experience how titillating that can be, but it's not quite as much fun or as satisfying as the real thing. When is Tom coming home?

'Tonight.’

Rosamund beamed at Mary, her eyes twinkling. ‘Is he? Then I suggest you give him a proper welcome home, my dear.’

Mary grinned. ‘Oh, I intend to.’

‘That’s my girl!’ Rosamund nodded, satisfied with Mary’s response. ‘Now, I think you and I need some more champagne. We need to toast your new husband and your plans for him.’


	23. Chapter 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sexual shenanigans ensue in this chapter, so avert your eyes if you're not interested in that kind of thing.

Mary slipped into Tom’s room, champagne sloshing around in her system, anticipation fizzing in her stomach. In the dark, she could just about make out the Tom-sized lump in the bed. She kicked off her heels and twisted back, reaching for the zip on her dress, wrenching the tab down and wriggling out of her evening dress, abandoning it on the floor next to her shoes.

She tripped over to the bed in her underwear and slipped under the duvet, crowding in next to him. He was lying on his side, fast asleep, which wasn’t really surprising given it was the wee small hours of the morning. She stared at his face, grinning with delight that he was home.

‘Tom,’ she stage-whispered.

He didn’t stir.

‘To-om,’ she singsonged, patting his face, perhaps a tad less gently than she’d meant to.

He startled awake, his eyes jerking open.

‘You’re home!’ Mary said, gleefully, tilting forward to smack a kiss on his lips.

Tom made a surprised noise, still pulling himself out of sleep as Mary practically fell on him. He tipped backwards, arms flailing a bit and completely off balance as she tried to kiss any part of his face she could reach.

‘What? Mary? What’s… what… what time is it?’

‘Dunno. Late. We just got back,’ she mumbled into his skin as she sucked a kiss just under his jaw. ‘Can we have sex now?’

She reached down under the duvet, her fingers scrabbling at the front of his pyjama bottoms.

‘Mary, Mary, wait. Wait. Stop,’ Tom said, urgently, trying to bat her hands away. ‘Stop!’

Mary pulled back, a look of hurt on her face, a pout on her lips. ‘What? I thought you wanted this.’

Tom sighed, rubbing his hands over his face. ‘I do, but not like this.’

He reached over to switch on the lamp next to his bed and pulled himself up to sit higher in the bed, turning to look at her properly. Mary pouted some more, folding her arms over her chest.

‘Like what?’

‘You’re drunk.’

‘M’not!’ she cried, indignantly

Tom gave her a look and Mary giggled, a look of surprise crossing her face as if the noise had slipped out of her without her permission. She reached out to squeeze his cheeks, smooshing his lips out. ‘Your face! You look so cute when you’re cross.’

He reached up to take hold of her hands. ‘I’m not cross. I’m just surprised.’

‘Why? You promised me sexy times when you got home and you’re home now. Soooo...’ She grinned at him, pulling her hand out of his grasp to slide it down towards his groin once more.

Tom caught her hand before she could reach her goal. Mary pouted some more.

‘How much have you had to drink?’

Mary raised her hand, squinting as she held her thumb and index finger about half a centimetre apart. ‘I may have had a tiny soupçon of champagne. Rosamund kept getting me glasses. We were toasting us, Tom!’

‘Ah, you’ve been drinking with Rosamund,’ Tom said, nodding, suddenly not so surprised at the state of Mary. ‘How was she?’

‘Happy! Very happy!’ Mary said, her eyes going soft with affection for her aunt. ‘Happy for us! And lovely. Very lovely Aunt Rosamund.’

Tom nodded and sighed. ‘Yes, she’s very lovely, your Aunt Rosamund. Very partial to champagne too.’

‘And wise. Very, very wise. Very insis… instis… very insist… I can't say that word, Tom. S'too hard. She said sex is very important in a marriage. Said I should be sexing you up. You should be sexing _me_ up.’ Mary poked him in the chest. ‘Why aren’t you sexing me up, Tom?’

‘Because you’re a little bit worse for wear, my love.’

Mary grinned delightedly at him. ‘”My love.” Am I your love?’

Tom smiled fondly back at her, amused by how happy his words made her. ‘Yes, you are.’

Mary fell forward, mashing her face into his chest and looping her arms around his neck. ‘Ah, that’s so sweet! I like being your love.’

Tom wrapped his arms around her, dropping a kiss on her forehead. ‘Good, I’m glad about that.’

Mary twisted her face, peering up at him. ‘But if you love me, why don’t you want to have sex with me? Don’t you fancy me anymore?’ she said, sadly.

Tom looked down at her, nestled against his chest. ‘Sweetheart, I will never not fancy you, but I don’t want our second first time to be like this.’

Mary frowned at him. ‘Like what?’

‘You drunk, me tired. I want it to be special.’

Mary stared at him and then pouted again. ‘But, Tom, I’m hoooooorrrrrrrnnnnnnny.’

Tom’s lips twitched into a smile. ‘You’re horny?’

‘Terribly horny,’ Mary confided, still pouting. She slid her hand down, this time managing to cup him through his pyjamas. Tom sucked in a sharp breath. ‘I want this. I want you to put it inside me. Like you did in Vegas. Because that was lovely. I liked that. I remember, you know.’

Tom pulled her hand away from him, shaking his head. ‘Not tonight, love.’

‘But I want it! I need it!’ Mary whined, frustrated.

‘Ah, well. You’re in a bit of a predicament then, aren’t you?’ Tom said, sticking to his guns despite the temptation in lacy lingerie in front of him.

May frowned again, then a calculating gleam appeared in her eye. She pushed herself off Tom and flopped down on her back on the other side of the bed. ‘Well, if you won’t do anything about it, I’ll just have to do it myself.’

Tom watched, his eyes getting wider, as Mary settled herself on the sheets and slid her hand down her body, letting out exaggeratedly breathy moans as her fingers dipped into her knickers, reaching her goal.

‘Mmmmmm… mmmmmmm… oh… oh, yes… yes… that’s… oh, yes, that’s good,’ she moaned, undulating her body, her eyes closed.

Tom swallowed, unable to take his eyes off her. ‘Jesus Christ, Mary.’

Mary tipped her head back, groaning as she worked her fingers harder. She dropped her head sideways, gazing at Tom, licking her lips. ‘You could always help me,’ she said, through uneven breaths.

Tom watched her pleasure herself for a few more minutes before groaning and sliding over, lying on his side next to her. ‘Take these off,’ he murmured low in her ear, plucking at her knickers.

Mary shivered as his breath ghosted over her skin then grabbed the flimsy material, shimmying out of her knickers and dropping them over the side of the bed.

She let out a moan as Tom’s fingers replaced hers, dipping inside her then circling her clitoris. She tilted her head back again as he mouthed kisses onto the skin of her neck, licking and nuzzling at her.

‘Oh, God, God, that’s… yes... yes… just there… oh, God, that’s fantastic… yes… oh, Tom… Tom… don’t stop,’ she moaned, writhing against him and the sheets.

She spread her legs wider, hooking one leg over his hip, desperate to give him more space to work his magic on her. She grabbed hold of his waist, clinging on to ground herself before thinking maybe she should be touching him too. She moved her hand towards his cock, only for him to tilt his body towards her, cutting off access to his groin.

‘No, not tonight, Mary. This is all about you.’

Mary panted, puzzled because she could feel his hardness bumping against her side. ‘But I thought you’d changed your mind.’

Tom’s mouth was at her ear again, his voice low and rough. ‘No, I’m not going to fuck you, not tonight. But I am going to make you come.’

'Oh, yes, please make me come. Let's definitely do that,' Mary groaned, tilting her hips up, chasing the pleasure his fingers were giving her, before she remembered her manners. ‘But what about you?’

‘Don’t worry about me. Concentrate on you. Show me how horny you are, how much you want this. Show me what this is doing to you. I want to see you let yourself go.’

Mary groaned, arching her back as a jolt of pure pleasure shot up her spine. Tom slid his free arm under her neck, grasping her shoulders, grounding her. She reached up, lacing her fingers with his on her shoulder, twisting her face to kiss him desperately, sucking on his tongue when he licked into her mouth.

Tom slid two fingers inside her, rubbing at her greedy little bud with his thumb and Mary moaned into their kiss, her stomach twisting with lust. She could feel her arousal spiking higher and higher as his fingers moved faster and harder, teasing her mercilessly. She tightened her leg over his hip, planting that foot firmly on the bed as her hips twitched higher, chasing her peak until it hit her in waves. She jerked in his arms, pulling away from his kiss to cry out as she spasmed uncontrollably.

‘That’s it, darlin’, that’s it,’ Tom breathed against her neck, stroking her through it, not stopping the movement of his fingers until Mary clamped her thighs shut on his hand, too sensitive to take any more.

She lay there, panting, not wanting to come down from her high. Tom rolled away from her, onto his back, the leg she'd thrown over him falling across his thighs. She turned her head and watched as he pushed the duvet down and shoved his hand into his pyjama bottoms, pulling his hard length out and jerking himself fast and hard. Mary couldn’t stop watching as his hand almost blurred as he worked himself. Within minutes, he pulled his T-shirt out of the way then tensed and came all over his stomach.

He lay beside her trying to calm his breathing before turning his head to kiss her shoulder. She pulled her leg back then reached out, tiredly, patting his thigh.

‘That was lovely,’ she said, sleepily. ‘Very lovely. Thank you.’

Tom chuckled. ‘You’re welcome. Maybe tomorrow night we can have a sober replay of our wedding night.’

There was silence from the bed next to him. Tom looked over to see Mary was already asleep, breathing softly. He grinned and kissed her shoulder again before moving to clean himself up.

She hadn’t stirred by the time he’d finished. Tom switched off the bedside light and pulled the duvet up over both of them, turning on his side to look at her profile. He leaned forward and pressed a kiss to her temple.

‘Sleep tight, love.’


	24. Chapter 24

Mary came to the next morning lying on her front, one side of her face pressed into a sheet that wasn’t hers, an arm dangling off the bed.

‘Mary,’ said the soft voice that had roused her along with the gentle hand rubbing her shoulder.

She opened one eye and groaned at the bright light coming through the window.

‘Are you awake, love?’

She focused blearily on the face in front of her. Tom was squatting by the bed, already dressed in a navy blue hoodie, a steaming cup of tea in one hand, the other gently stroking her skin.

‘No,’ she muttered, grumpily. ‘I’m not.’

Tom smiled, holding up the tea as an offering. ‘I brought you a cup of tea. Thought it might help you rejoin the land of the living.’

Mary stared at him, her eyes drawn to the splayed vee of his thighs encased in a pair of shorts, pleasingly taut muscles right in her eyeline.

‘What are you wearing?’ she croaked, trying to simultaneously clear her throat and ignore the fluttery feeling in her tummy.

‘Football kit. I’m refereeing George’s game this morning.’

Mary groaned, dragging herself upright. She paused, confused as she looked down and saw she was just wearing a bra, not her nightdress. She crossed her arms over her chest, feeling suddenly very self-conscious.

Tom put the tea on the bedside cabinet, standing up to reach over to the end of the bed. ‘Here, I got you these from your room. I didn’t want you to have to do the walk of shame in last night’s clothes, especially not in your own home.’

He handed her a set of her loungewear. Mary grabbed at the hoodie, pulling it over her head, glad to cover up. ‘Thank you.’

‘How’s your head? On a scale of one to Las Vegas, how hungover are you?’

Mary gave him a small grin. ‘About a four on the Vegas scale, I think. Did I… did I make a fool of myself last night.’

He smiled at her, settling on the edge of the bed. ‘No, not in the slightest.’

Mary looked at him, doubtfully. ‘Are you sure? I have a vague memory of waking you up and trying to seduce you.’

‘Yes, you did,’ Tom agreed, amiably. ‘What else do you remember?’

Mary reddened. ‘Um, I remember you saying no and then… then… well, things happening.’

‘Yes,’ Tom replied, grinning at her. ‘Things definitely happened.’

Mary looked down, fiddling awkwardly with the cuffs of her hoodie. ‘I’m sorry if I forced you into doing anything you didn’t want to.’

Tom shuffled closer to her, putting his finger under her chin and lifting her face so she had to look at him. ‘You didn’t.’

‘But you said you didn’t want to do it; I remember you saying that. I’ve spoiled things, haven’t I? Because I was drunk and horny.’

Tom shook his head, grinning. ’You haven’t spoiled anything, love. My virtue is as intact now as it was this time yesterday.’

Mary’s lips twitched into a smile. ‘Your virtue?’

‘Yes. I mean, you made a good case for me to give up the goods, but I stood my ground,’ he said, his eyes sparkling with a mixture of lust and amusement. ‘But that’s not to say that there wasn’t a mutually satisfactory end to proceedings last night, though. Because there was. I think I can safely say we both went to sleep happy.’

Mary bit her lower lip as her smile got bigger and broader. ‘We did, didn’t we?’

‘We definitely did,’ Tom said, his voice taking on that low, sexy note that did things to Mary’s insides. ‘And from my point of view, you are an incredibly sexy woman and I got to see you doing incredibly sexy things up close. I count that as a win any day of the week. And if I have my way, I’m going to see some more of that tonight.’

‘Oh, yes?’ Mary breathed, unable to tear her eyes away from his.

‘What do you say to re-enacting our wedding night tonight, only without enough alcohol to sink a battleship and both of us compos mentis?’

‘I’d say yes, please,’ she whispered.

Tom leaned forward, planting a hand on the bed on either side of her hips, and kissed her deep and slow. ‘Then it’s a date.’

Mary brought her hands up to catch his face and pull him back to her for another kiss.

‘I have to go,’ he said when they eventually pulled apart. ‘George should have finished his breakfast by now. He’s been asking if you’re coming to watch him play. His is the second match, so you’ve got time to have a shower and get changed if you want to come.’

Mary nodded. ‘I will. What’s Sybbie doing? Is she going too?’

Tom shook his head. ‘No, she says it’s boring unless she gets to play. She’s persuaded Cora to do some baking with her this morning. I’ll take George down now, so he can get warmed up before the match. You come down to the village when you’re ready, yeah?’

‘Okay, tell George I’ll be there.’

Tom leaned in for another kiss then got to his feet, heading for the door.

‘Tom, thank you.’

He turned around to look at her. ‘For what?’

Mary picked up her tea and waved the mug at him. ‘For this, for getting me some clothes, for everything really.’

He smiled. ‘Don’t be silly. I’m just trying to be a good husband. Might as well start as I mean to go on. I’ll see you later.’

Mary watched him go, sipping her tea. ‘You’re already a good husband,’ she muttered, leaning back into his pillows.

* * *

Mary left Tom’s room with her evening dress over her arm, strappy shoes in one hand and her empty mug in the other, heading for her own room. She stopped mid-stride on the landing as she saw her father at the top of the stairs, his Kindle in his hand.

‘Good morning, Mary. How are you today? You and Rosamund were certainly knocking back the bubbly last night,’ he said, jovially, and then frowned at her as he noted what she was carrying. ‘Is that your dress from last night? What… are you… are you coming from Tom’s room?’

Mary felt herself blushing, even as she willed herself not to. ‘I… I…’

Robert’s eyes widened and his cheeks pinked up. ‘Did you spend the night in Tom’s room?’

Mary squared her shoulders, deciding to brazen it out. ‘And what if I did, Papa? We are married, you know. It's perfectly respectable.’

‘But… but I thought… I mean, I know something went on in Las Vegas, but I didn’t think… I didn’t think it was… well, that it was like that with you two. I thought it was an accident, a one-off,’ Robert eventually managed to get out, turning redder by the second.

Mary felt the embarrassment squirming deep in her stomach. ‘Well, it is like that with us. Although, I really don’t want to think about you thinking about that.’

Robert stared at her, equally as embarrassed and uncomfortable as his daughter. ‘Well, no, I’d rather not either, but I do rather feel as if I’ve caught you sneaking out of a boyfriend’s room.’

Mary lifted her chin, aiming for sophisticated woman instead of cringing teenager. ‘Really, Papa. He’s my husband, not my boyfriend, and I’m a grown woman now. The fact that I spent the night with my husband shouldn’t even warrant a comment.’

‘No, I suppose it shouldn’t. It’s just that your husband is Tom now and I, well, I haven’t quite adjusted to that fact yet.’ Robert lifted his wrist and looked exaggeratedly at his watch. ‘Goodness, is that the time? I must go. I told your mother I wouldn’t be long. I will see you later.’

With that, he took off down the stairs, obviously desperate to leave this excruciating conversation behind. Mary stared after him, mortification still warming her cheeks. So much for not having to do the walk of shame.

* * *

Isobel was on the sidelines, yelling encouragement at George and his teammates when Mary arrived at the Downton football pitch. The wind whistled around them making Mary hunch deeper into her coat and the huge woollen scarf wrapped around her neck. She took a fortifying sip from the large travel mug of coffee glued to her hand.

‘Have I missed much? I thought I’d make it on time for kick-off,’ she asked as she came to stand beside her mother-in-law.

‘Chase that ball, George! Go on!’ Isobel shouted across the pitch before turning to Mary. ‘No, they only kicked off a few minutes ago. You look a bit delicate this morning.’

‘Hmmm, you could say that,’ Mary nodded, exchanging kisses with Isobel. ‘Let’s just say I would rather still be in bed than freezing my bum off out here.’

Isobel yelled more words of advice at the little footballers then turned back to Mary. ‘I saw Rosamund plying you with champagne last night. You should know better by now than to match her drink for drink. It’s simply impossible. I don’t know how she does it.’

‘She’s coming to lunch later,’ Mary said, morosely. ‘You just know she will be as fresh as a daisy while I look like death warmed up.’

‘Oh, my dear, you’re too hard on yourself. You look like you haven’t slept for a month, but death warmed up is a touch too far.’

‘Thanks, Isobel, that’s made me feel so much better,’ Mary said, drily, taking a large gulp of lovely, hot, hopefully rejuvenating coffee.

Isobel kept up her cheerleading at the edge of the pitch, punching the air with delight as George’s team scored a goal, pulling ahead of their opponents. Mary threw out the odd shout of encouragement too but spent a greater part of her time ogling Tom’s bum and legs in his shorts as he ran around the pitch, blowing his whistle and sorting out minor altercations.

The match finished with a win for Downton United’s under 7s team, which delighted all the parents and Isobel, who clapped and cheered enthusiastically.

‘Well done, boys,’ she called as they huddled in a circle around their coach on the pitch. ‘Do you know, he reminds me so much of Matthew at that age. The same blond hair and blue eyes, of course, but the same athletic prowess too. Although, of course, it was more rugby than football for Matthew.’

Mary smiled, gazing across the pitch at her boy. He did look like Matthew, a fact that never failed to bring her joy. ‘He won’t start playing rugby until he gets to high school, but he loves to watch it. He and Tom are glued to the Six Nations every year. It’s quite the rivalry, you know. Tom with his Ireland shirt on, George cheering for England.’

The little circle of mini footballers broke up with a final victorious whoop and began filing off the pitch. George started towards his mother and grandmother then stopped and turned to yell over to Tom behind the far goal, picking up spare balls.

‘Dad! I’ve left my spare shinpads next to the goalposts. Will you get them for me?’

Isobel went completely still next to Mary as Tom gave George the thumbs up and the boy started jogging across the pitch again.

‘George is calling Tom Dad?’ she asked, quietly.

Mary turned to look at her, eyes wide. ‘Yes. Oh, God, I’m sorry, Isobel, I should have told you.’

‘When did this happen?’

‘He asked if he could call him Dad the day we told the kids we were married.’

‘George asked? It was his idea? You didn’t put him up to it?’

‘No, of course, not. It quite took me by surprise.’

Isobel took a deep, shuddery breath. She put on a brave face, but Mary could see the tears in her eyes. ‘I suppose I should have expected it. It’s not like he ever knew Matthew, and Tom’s always been there.’

‘Isobel, he knows Matthew is his father. He won’t forget that. I’ll make sure of that, you know I will.’

‘But a dead father is not the same as a living, breathing dad, is it? Not for a vibrant, young lad like George.’

Mary stepped forward, reaching out to her mother-in-law, but not quite sure what to do.

George ran up to them, giddy with victory. ‘We won! Did you see?’

‘Yes, darling, we did,’ Isobel said, hugging her grandson to her.

George looked up at her in concern. ‘Are you okay, Granny Isobel? You’re not crying, are you?’

Isobel shook her head, sniffing back her tears and grabbing him by the hand. ‘Take no notice of me, George. I’m just being silly because I’m so super proud of you. My little footballer. You were so good out there. Now, didn’t I promise you a hot chocolate to warm us up after the match? You’d better go and get your things.’

‘Can I have marshmallows and cream on it?’

‘Isn’t that the only proper way to drink hot chocolate? Now off you go.’

George grinned and trotted off.

‘Isobel, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I should have,’ Mary said, feeling wretched for causing Matthew’s mother pain.

Isobel turned to her, forcing a smile on her face. ‘It’s all right, Mary. Life goes on, I know that, however hard it is for those of us left behind. If George wants to call Tom Dad, then I have to respect his wishes. I’ll just have to get used to it. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll just go and wait for him by the hut.’

Mary watched Isobel go, still unsure that things were all right between them. Tom came jogging up to her, the net full of spare footballs and George's shinpads in his hand.

‘You made it then,’ he said, taking hold of her free hand. He paused as she didn’t respond, following her gaze to Isobel standing outside the football hut, her head down. ‘What’s up? Has something happened?’

‘Isobel heard George call you Dad.’

‘Oh. _Ohhh_. Is she okay?’

Mary shook her head. ‘No, I don’t think she is. She’s putting on a brave face for George, but I think it’s hit her hard.’

‘Do you want me to go and talk to her?’

‘No, no, don’t. I don’t think she wants to talk about it. I told her it’s what George wanted, but I feel awful, Tom. I should have thought to tell her before now.’

Tom put his arm around her shoulders, pulling her in close, letting her tuck her head on his shoulder. ‘I’m not sure that would have made it any easier for her to hear, love.’

‘I know, but I feel like I should have warned her, so she could have been more prepared.’

‘George will always know Matthew is his real dad. We both talk to him about Matthew, tell him stories.’

Mary nodded, watching as George came out of the hut, hitching his bag over his shoulder, making a beeline for Isobel. The two of them set off for the teashop on the village green, deep in conversation, Isobel even managing a laugh at something George said.

‘We won’t let him forget about Matthew, Mary, you know we won’t.’

Mary looked up, gazing contemplatively at Tom. She put her hand on the back of his neck, drawing him in for a kiss. ‘I’m so glad I have you by my side. I don’t know what I’d do without you.’

Tom smiled back at her, a soft smile that made Mary’s heart clench. ‘Well, as a wise woman said to me not so long ago, luckily you don’t have to find out.’

Mary leaned in and kissed him again.


	25. Chapter 25

‘And then he had the audacity to ask me to spend the day in bed with him,’ Rosamund said, conversationally to Cora as her brother shook his head in agonised disbelief. ‘Right there over the continental breakfast display if you can believe it.’

‘He did not!’

‘Oh, yes, he did. The nerve of the man.’

‘What did you say?’

‘Well, she obviously didn’t say yes, did she, Cora, because otherwise she wouldn’t be here torturing us like this,’ Robert said in an exasperated tone. ‘Although, I almost wish she had and then we wouldn’t be having to endure this conversation.’

Rosamund cast a disparaging look at her brother. ‘Honestly, Robert, it’s the 21st century, it’s time you came to terms with the fact that women have sexual appetites too. As it happens, I told him I could never sleep with a man who offered me anything less than eggs benedict and bucks fizz for breakfast. Mini muffins and mass-produced orange juice simply don’t cut the mustard.’

‘Rosamund, you are such a snob,’ Cora laughed, delighted by her sister-in-law’s outrageous tale. ‘But you might have to go easy on Robert today. He’s feeling a bit sensitive about the subject of women’s sexual appetites.’

‘Why’s that then?’

Cora grinned, leaning closer and lowering her voice to impart the salacious details. ‘He’s a little traumatised because he caught Mary leaving Tom’s room this morning after apparently spending the night with him.’

Rosamund clapped her hands together in glee. ‘Did he indeed? How perfectly wonderful! I did have a little chat with her about that very subject last night. I’m so glad to hear my advice didn’t go unheeded.’

Her brother stared at her. ‘You encouraged Mary to sleep with Tom?’

‘I most certainly did. Tom’s an attractive man. If Mary’s now married to him, she might as well take advantage of that and all the possibilities it offers. I know I would. Although, if you ask me, I don’t think she needed any encouragement from me.’

Robert dropped his face into his hands, groaning. ‘I do not need to know any of this.’

‘Oh, don’t be such a wet blanket, Robert. You know as well as I do that sex between two consenting adults is a very natural, very wonderful thing. It’s very good for one’s wellbeing. I do believe it helps to keep your chakras aligned too, which can only be a good thing.’

‘Please stop talking, Rosamund,’ Robert begged, glaring at his sister. ‘I have no desire to think about the sex lives of anyone in my family, thank you very much. Some things should be left private. Now, for the sake of my sanity, can we please move on from this topic of conversation?’

‘Move on from what topic of conversation?’ Mary said, coming into the library, Tom close behind her. ‘What are you talking about?’

Robert cast a desperate look at his wife and sister, silently begging them not to answer that.

Rosamund smiled sweetly at him, looking as if butter wouldn’t melt. ‘I was just telling your mama and papa how a rather oily gentleman propositioned me over breakfast this morning. I fear it was all rather too much for your father’s delicate nature.’

‘Has Aunt Rosamund been tormenting you, Papa?’ Mary asked with a smile as Tom cast Robert a sympathetic look.

‘Yes, she has. She's been taking a vicious delight in doing so too. She seems to fail to understand there are some things a brother does not wish to know about his sister,’ Robert said firmly.

‘Oh, Robert, I didn’t actually sleep with him, so there’s nothing to know,’ Rosamund said, serenely unconcerned. ‘Although, that’s not to say I wouldn’t have taken him up on his offer if he had only been more mannerly about the whole affair.’

Robert groaned, rubbing at his forehead in despair. ‘Please someone make it stop.’

His wife took pity on him. ‘Where’s George? Did they win?’

‘Yes, they did. George is having lunch with Isobel today. I thought it would be good for them to spend a little time together,’ Mary said, deciding not to elaborate on why.

‘Tom, I haven’t had the opportunity yet to congratulate you on your marriage,’ Rosamund said, fixing Tom with a bright smile. ‘I told Mary last night how very happy I am for the two of you.’

‘Thank you. I understand you and Mary celebrated in some style last night.’

‘We certainly did. The world would be a sorry place if we couldn’t toast to a happy affair like a wedding.’

‘Don’t say that to Mama,’ Cora warned. ‘She’s been ringing me repeatedly about helping her to talk Mary and Tom into having a blessing. She feels they’ve let us all down by getting married in America without telling anyone.’

‘I hope you’ve told her it’s not going to happen,’ Mary said, narrowing her eyes at her mother. ‘I’d rather hoped she had let the idea go over the last week or so.’

‘I told her it was entirely your decision and we should respect your wishes,’ Cora replied, calmly.

Rosamund snorted. ‘Like that’s ever going to happen. You’ll wake up one day in the not-too-distant future, Mary, to find Mama has organised the whole thing without consulting you and she’ll simply expect you to acquiesce to her wishes. You mark my words.’

Mary stared at her then looked desperately at her mother. ‘No, she wouldn’t, would she? What am I talking about? It’s Granny, she’s devious enough to do exactly that. Mama, if you catch even a whisper of her doing anything like this, you must promise me you’ll stop her.’

‘Of course, I will, darling,’ Cora said, soothingly. ‘I won’t let her do anything you haven’t explicitly sanctioned.’

‘Good, because I won’t be sanctioning anything.’

‘Well, my dear, you can count on me to help if I can,’ Rosamund promised. ‘I live to thwart Mama’s efforts when she’s scheming. Now, Cora, I hope you don’t think me forward, but is it almost time for lunch? It’s been such a very long time since breakfast.’

* * *

Tom was in the kitchen filling the dishwasher when George trundled in, followed by Isobel.

‘…and then the water just exploded from the bottle, Granny, and it went all over his trousers and it looked like he’d weed himself! It was so funny!’

‘I’m sure it was, George. Poor Mr Molesley. How embarrassing for him, right in front of the whole class,’ Isobel replied, smiling at him. Her face tightened up a fraction when she saw Tom.

‘Did you guys have a lovely time?’ he said, straightening up and setting the dishwasher off.

‘Oh, yes, we had cheeseburgers the size of my head, Dad!’ George said, dumping his bag full of muddy football kit on the kitchen table. ‘It was awesome!’

Tom glanced at Isobel, catching the slight reaction she tried to hide. ‘Did you? And I bet you still had room for pudding, didn’t you?’

‘I had room for nearly two puddings! I had my own and then Granny let me finish hers because she couldn’t manage it,’ George grinned, his eyes shining with the memory.

‘I hope you said thank you to Granny Isobel.’

‘He did,’ Isobel said, ruffling George’s hair. ‘He was very polite.’

‘Good lad. Now, what do we say about your football kit?’

George rolled his eyes. ‘Don’t leave it in the bag, stinking up the place.’

‘That’s right. You go stick it in the washing machine and I’ll come and set it off in a minute. My stuff is already in there. If you leave your boots out, I’ll clean them when I do mine later.’

George nodded, turning around and flinging his arms around Isobel. ‘Thank you for a lovely lunch, Granny. It was the best.’

Isobel hugged him back, kissing the top of his head. ‘You are welcome, my darling boy. Are we home or away next week?’

‘Away, I think, aren’t we, Dad?’

‘Yes, we’re playing at Easingwold next Saturday. I’ll text you the time, Isobel.’

Isobel nodded at Tom, her smile not quite meeting her eyes. ‘Thank you. I wouldn’t want to miss it,’ she said, giving George one last quick squeeze before he let go to pick up his football kit.

‘Bye, Granny. Love you!’ he said, trudging off to the utility room, his bulky bag in his arms.

‘I love you too!’ she called after him, then cast a quick glance at Tom, gesturing at the door. ‘Well, I’d better…’

‘Isobel, wait,’ Tom said, moving towards her. ‘Are you all right? Mary told me about this morning. Will you sit with me a minute?’

Isobel hesitated then let out a small sigh, pulling out one of the chairs at the kitchen table. Tom took a seat beside her.

‘This must be hard for you, I know.’

Isobel stared straight ahead, avoiding looking at him, before giving a short sharp nod. ‘It is, rather. I can’t help feeling that it should be Matthew here doing all these things with George.’

‘Of course, it should,’ Tom said, softly. ‘I’d give anything for him to be here. Sybil too.’

Isobel looked at him then, a sheen of tears in her eyes.

Tom put his hand over hers, squeezing it gently. ‘I know it must feel like I’m replacing Matthew in George’s life, but that’s not what I’m trying to do. I just want to be there for the lad when he needs me. I thought the world of Matthew. He was a good friend to me, and I miss him still.’

Isobel nodded again, her face crumpling as she tried to fight back her tears. ‘I know. I do know that, Tom. It’s just… it’s just hard to hear George call you Dad.’

‘I understand that, I do. I think Robert and Cora are finding it difficult to hear Sybbie call Mary Mummy too. But it’s what the kids want. It was their decision.’

‘I know. Mary said George asked if he could call you… that.’

‘Do you want me to tell him not to? I can talk to him about it if you want me to.’

Isobel shook her head. ‘No, no, that would be very unfair of me, to take away his choice because of my feelings.’

Tom squeezed her hand again. ‘He loves you. He’d hate to think he was upsetting you. So would I. You know I think the world of you too, Isobel.’

Isobel tilted her head, looking at him contemplatively. She reached out her other hand and put it on top of their stacked hands.

‘And I’m very fond of you, Tom. If anyone is going to be a father to my grandson in Matthew’s absence, I’m glad it’s you. I know how much you love him. I can’t ask for more than that. If George wants to call you Dad, then we must allow him to do so. I will get used to it, I know I will. It may just take a while.’

Tom smiled at her. ‘Well, if you want to take out your feelings on anything, we’ve got about a hundred footballs you could come and kick. George would probably love that, come to think of it.’

Isobel chuckled, lifting her hand to brush away the tears from her cheeks. ‘I might take you up on that.’

‘Any time,’ Tom said, leaning in to press a gentle kiss to her temple. ‘You are always welcome here. Always.’

Isobel smiled, a genuine smile, leaning her head against his as they sat in silence for a moment at the kitchen table, listening to George banging about in the utility room.


	26. Chapter 26

‘Mary, darling, we need to talk about Edith,’ Cora said, hoping having this conversation at the dinner table would temper her daughter’s response.

Mary sighed. ‘Must we? Can’t we simply let sleeping dogs lie for the evening and enjoy our meal _en famille_?’

‘What’s this?’ Violet enquired, looking down the table from her place on the other side of her son. ‘What’s wrong with dear Edith?’

‘Nothing’s wrong with Edith, Mama-,‘ Cora started.

‘That’s debatable,’ Mary muttered, earning a look from Tom that clearly telegraphed a ‘cease and desist' message.

‘- it’s only that she’s taken the news of Mary’s marriage to Tom rather badly.’

‘Has she?’

‘Mama, we really don’t need to talk about this right now,’ Mary cut in, trying to kill the discussion dead before it became a thing.

‘But why has Edith taken exception? What objections does she have?’ the Dowager asked into the silence echoing across the table.

‘I think it’s because it came as rather a shock to her,’ Cora said, glossing over the details.

‘Well, it came as rather a shock to all of us. I don’t think any of us were expecting them to announce a wedding before an engagement,’ Violet asserted, pointedly. ‘If you’d only done this the correct way, Mary, we could have avoided any unpleasantness with your sister.’

‘I very much doubt that,’ Mary said, drily.

‘I’m sure she’s just put out with the secrecy – as we all are – and possibly the fact that you chose to marry so close to her own wedding. That wasn’t perhaps ideal timing.’

‘If we’re going to talk about this now, then let's at least be honest about it,’ Mary said, putting her knife and fork down. She looked directly at her grandmother. ‘Granny, you’re right, Edith does object to the timing of our wedding, but not half as much as she objects to us being together in the first place. She’s angry that Tom and I are now a couple.’

The Dowager looked at her granddaughter in bewilderment. ‘She is? On what grounds?’

Mary looked over at Tom, resignation on her face. He reached out to squeeze her hand.

‘Edith feels we’re being disrespectful to Sybil’s memory,’ he told the Dowager quietly.

‘To be more precise, she thinks I’m a disgrace to the family, dragging us all through the mud, because I have helped myself to our late sister’s husband,’ Mary clarified, picking up her wineglass to take a fortifying sip.

Violet stared at her, flabbergasted. ‘She actually said that, did she?’

‘She used more colourful language than that, but that was certainly the gist of it. Believe me, she left us in no doubt as to how repulsive she found the idea of us together. Although, as ever, I was more the target of her ire than Tom. She appears to think of him as the helpless victim caught in my web of villainy.’

‘Mary, I don’t think that’s entirely fair,’ Cora began, only to be stopped in her tracks by a look from Mary.

‘Oh, come off it, Mama. I know what she said, I was there when she told us how disgusting we were. And I know she came here afterwards to vent her displeasure further.’

‘Is this true?’ Violet said, looking from Mary to Tom and back again.

‘Yes, I think Mary’s summed it up correctly,’ Tom said, squeezing Mary’s hand again. ‘Although, I want to state for the record that I am not a victim of anything. I’m proud to call Mary my wife. I’m the luckiest man in the world that she married me.’

Mary cast him a soft look and a small smile. Tom smiled back, picking up her hand and kissing the back of it.

‘Well, I think we can safely say this is a relationship of equals,’ Rosamund asserted from the other end of the table. ‘It’s quite clear they are besotted with each other and neither one of them is in this arrangement against their will.’

‘Quite,’ the Dowager agreed. ‘Granted, it is somewhat unusual for siblings-in-law to marry, but it is far from unheard of. And if it’s good enough for the Royal Family, it is good enough for the likes of Edith to accept.’

Robert looked quizzically at his mother. ‘The Royal Family? Who amongst the royals is married to a former in-law?’

Violet favoured him with a disdainful look. ‘Really, Robert, the amount of money your father and I spent on your education, and I frequently wonder if it was worth it. Did you learn nothing at school? Henry VIII married his brother’s widow.’

‘Henry VIII?’ Robert said, in astonishment. ‘You’re going back to Tudor times to make a royal comparison with Tom and Mary’s situation?’

‘I most certainly am. I fail to see the relevance of the span of years between the two events. It is the act itself that counts. If it is good enough for the Royal Family, it is good enough for the Crawleys, and Edith must learn to accept that.’

‘Well, I’ll be sure to raise that as an argument with Edith the next time I see her. I’m sure that will swing her round to our way of thinking immediately,’ Mary said sardonically as her father turned to his sister to mutter, ‘Which one of the merry wives of Windsor was married to Henry’s brother? I didn't even know he had a brother.’

‘I hear that mocking tone in your voice, young lady, and I would remind you that it is bad manners to deride the opinion of others’ Violet chastised, narrowing her eyes in disapproval at Mary. ‘Especially when history is on my side and opinion is – as in this case – a matter of fact.’

‘I’m sorry, Granny, I know you mean well, but Edith won’t give two hoots about Henry VIII – and it’s Katherine of Aragon, Papa, the wife in question,’ Mary responded, rolling her eyes at her clueless father, before carrying on. ‘My dear sister is furious that Tom and I are now married, and I fear it will be a cold day in hell before she forgives us. She’s only deigning to allow us to come to her wedding because it’s better than a scandalous non-appearance.’

‘Well, I quite agree with her there – you must go to her wedding or tongues will wag,’ the Dowager decreed.

‘Then perhaps it is a good thing we shan’t see each other before then.’

‘Er, well, that’s the thing,’ Cora interjected, looking both guilty and determined. ‘Edith will be here next weekend. She has a wedding dress fitting in York, and I’ve persuaded her to stay here to at least try and clear the air before her wedding.’

Mary groaned, pressing her hand against her forehead. ‘Oh, Mama, you haven’t.’

‘Yes, I have. We need to smooth things out between you all before the wedding.’

‘Can’t Tom and I just turn up to the wedding, sit quietly, eat cake and leave? That would be so much less painful than having to reason with Edith.’

‘No, darling, I think it’s better for you to resolve your differences as soon as possible. It doesn’t do to let these things fester,’ Cora said, cajolingly, trying to appeal to Mary’s better nature.

‘Your mama is right, Mary. You should make peace with your sister,’ the Dowager said, nodding at Cora in approval. ‘It simply won’t do for the two of you to be at odds with each other.’

‘That’s all well and good, but none of you heard how rude and downright nasty she was to me and Tom. She should beg our forgiveness, not the other way around. We’ve done nothing wrong!’

‘And nobody’s saying you have, Mary. Edith is quite clearly in the wrong in condemning your relationship, but she’s guilty of an overly emotional reaction to unexpected news.’

‘She was a bitch, Granny! A total bitch.’

The Dowager tutted. ‘Really, Mary, there’s no need for such language at the dinner table. However, if she was, as you say, less than kind, then it’s up to you to be the bigger person. And you too, of course, Tom.’

‘But I hate having to be the bigger person! You know I do!’ Mary cried in frustration

Tom squeezed Mary’s hand again, drawing her attention to him. ‘Violet and Cora are right, love. We have to try to build bridges with Edith, for everyone’s sake.’

Mary glared at him, clearly not convinced.

‘Look, I’ll eat any humble pie that’s necessary. I asked you to marry me, not the other way round. If Edith wants to blame anyone, it should be me,’ he said, effectively offering to fall on his sword for the sake of sisterly harmony.

‘You know she won’t believe a word of that,’ Mary grumbled.

‘But it’s the truth, isn’t it?’

The Dowager flicked her gaze between them. ‘Well, if anyone can pour oil on these troubled waters, Tom, I have faith that you can. Perhaps Edith’s affection for you will carry the day.’

‘Well, it most certainly won’t be her affection for me,’ Mary noted, acerbically.

Tom stroked the back of her hand. ‘We’ll make it work, darlin’, I promise. We’ll find a way to smooth things over with Edith.’

Mary looked around the table at her assembled family. ‘Fine. I will do my best to make up with Edith. But don’t blame me if she throws it back in my face, which I strongly suspect she will.’

Her grandmother picked up her knife and fork, resuming her meal. ‘If she does, I suggest you refer her to me and I will clarify the situation for her.’

The assorted Crawleys and Bransons around the table exchanged looks, the mood changing to one significantly closer to sympathy for the absent, unsuspecting Edith.

But the Dowager hadn't quite finished. 'And maybe after Edith's wedding, we can revisit the question of a blessing for Mary and Tom.'

Mary put her face in her hands and groaned.


	27. Chapter 27

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Steamy business ahoy! This is your two-minute warning!

‘She’s not going to let it go, is she?’ Mary said, heading up the stairs at the end of the evening, Tom beside her.

‘Who’s not going to let what go?’

She cast him an exasperated glance. ‘Granny. About us having a blessing. She’s like a dog with a bone. Or a terrier with a rat in its teeth. That’s probably a more apt description. And we're the poor rat.’

‘Mary,’ Tom said, patiently, as they reached the top of the stairs.

‘She’s going to worry away at it in the hopes of wearing me down, I just know it.’

‘Mary.’

‘It’s going to be weeks of fending her off and/or avoiding her until she either gives it up as a bad job or she drives me mad. And I’m telling you now, the latter is much more likely than the former.’

‘Mary,’ Tom said again, catching her by the waist and pulling her against him hard enough to startle a soft ‘oh’ out of her. ‘Stop talking about your grandmother.’

‘All right,’ she said, softly, eye to eye with him, her pulse skittering under her skin. ‘What do you want to talk about?’

‘I want to talk about which room you want me to take you to so we don’t have to do any talking for a while.’

Mary bit her lip, giving him a playful smile. ‘Oh, yes? What if I like to talk? You know, while being… intimate.’

Tom grinned at her. ‘I don’t mind that – as long as you don’t mention your grandmother. Although, if I don’t manage to shut you up at least once, I’ll start to think that I’m doing it wrong. Now, your room or mine?’

‘Mine,’ she breathed, pulling out of his hold, taking him by the hand and leading him down the corridor to her bedroom.

She paused at her door, turning round to face him. ‘Tom, I…’

‘What is it, love?’

Mary put her hand on the front of his shirt, keeping her eyes carefully on his chest. ‘I don’t want you to take this the wrong way, but…’

‘But?’

She looked up to meet his concerned gaze. ‘I’m nervous. About this. About what we’re about to do. I know it’s stupid considering what happened last night, but I am.’

‘Do you not want to do it?’

Yes, yes, I do. I’m just… it just… well, it feels like there’s no going back if we do this. What if we mess it up?’

Tom put his hand over hers, stroking it with his thumb. ‘It’s us, Mary. Just us. We’ll do this however you want to.’

‘But that’s the thing. I mean there was no ‘us’ until a couple of weeks ago. Not an ‘us’ us. And I’m not used to thinking about us as an ‘us’. And now we are an ‘us’ and that still throws me a bit.’ She paused, looking at him helplessly. ‘Does that make any sense at all?’

Tom gazed back at her, still stroking her hand softly.

‘It’s just that you’ve been my best friend for so long now and I tell you everything and I feel like I needed to tell you this, that I’m nervous about tonight, and I’m not saying I don’t want to do this, because I do, I really do, but that doesn’t mean I’m not nervous about cocking everything up because I am, I really am, because it means too much to me, you mean too much to me to mess it up,’ she said in rush before finally running out of breath.

Tom nodded, not taking his eyes off her. ‘Mary?’

‘Yes?’

‘Can I kiss you?’

‘Yes,’ she breathed.

Tom took a step closer, leaning in to kiss her, gently at first, soft, easy and tender, not increasing the pressure until he felt her relax. He moved closer, deepening the kiss, pushing her gently back against her bedroom door, moving his hands to her waist to rub his thumbs in small circles over her sides.

Mary whimpered slightly, opening up to let him lick into her mouth, her hands sliding up to his shoulders, her nervousness about the whole situation beginning to dissipate. Instead, the fizz of anticipation began to fill her.

Tom kept kissing her, moving on to trailing his lips along her jaw and down her neck. Mary rolled her head, stretching up and back against the door, exposing more and more skin to his mouth as he chased the taste of her, sending sparks surging through her.

‘Tom, Tom,’ she said eventually, her words punctuated by small groans, ‘stop, stop. We need to move this into the bedroom right now before I make you take me against this door for anyone to see.’

She felt him chuckle quietly against her skin, making her shiver. ‘So, you’re not nervous anymore then?’

She smiled, feeling behind her to press down the handle and swing the bedroom door open. ‘I’m getting less so with every second that passes.’

‘Good,’ he said, walking her backwards into the room and kicking the door shut behind him. ‘I’ll take that as a win.’

He bent his head to kiss her again as Mary began unbuttoning his shirt. He reached behind her for the zip on her dress, easing it down slowly. Mary pulled his shirt out of his trousers, pushing it off his shoulders. Tom let go of her to shrug out of it and she took the opportunity to wriggle out of her dress, letting it fall next to his shirt.

He pulled her back into him for another kiss, his arms circling her to undo her bra even as Mary attacked his belt, pulling it open and going for the button and zip of his flies. She shrugged out of her bra, flinging it off to the side, then shoved frantically at the material of his trousers and underwear, pushing it down his thighs.

Tom chuckled again. ‘Easy, tiger, we’ve got all night.’

Mary stepped back, hooking her thumbs into the sides of her knickers and shimmying them down her legs. ‘Take them off. Now.’

Tom stopped chuckling and caught his breath, staring reverently at her as he pulled the rest of his clothes off. ‘Christ, Mary, you are so bloody gorgeous.’

Mary climbed on the bed, knelt in the centre of it, and beckoned him forward. ‘Come here, then, and show me how gorgeous you think I am.’

Tom went to her, kneeling on the bed in front of her, running his hands down her sides, revelling in her involuntary shiver and the goosebumps following in the wake of his fingers. His eyes raked over her then he grinned at her and dipped his head to mouth at her neck again. Mary groaned, taking hold of his hips then sliding her hands over his backside and pulling his groin against hers.

Tom moaned into her skin, dropping his head to trail his lips down to her breast, kissing and licking, nuzzling and sucking, bringing a hand up to caress her other breast. Mary sighed, throwing her head back and arching into him, loving the sensations he was sending racing through her body.

For a few moments, she lost herself in the feelings, barely doing anything to reciprocate before she came back to herself and slid her hand between them, wrapping her fingers around him. She felt Tom falter and gasp against her, his hot, wet breath pebbling the skin around her hard nipple.

She tugged on him, twisting her hand at the head, feeling him leaking against her fingers. Tom paused, his forehead still resting against her chest, panting out a series of small moans. Mary smiled, thrilling at the effect she was having on him, then he reached a hand down between her legs and suddenly she was the one panting and moaning.

He raised his head to look at her and Mary kissed him, the kiss sloppier and clumsier than the ones they’d shared so far tonight. 

‘Tom,’ Mary groaned into his mouth a few minutes later as his hand worked some kind of alchemy between her thighs. ‘I… I need you… I want you inside… _oh, oh, oh_ …’

She broke off as her muscles tightened and she orgasmed on his fingers, clinging on to him as her body shook and shook and shook. Tom kept kissing her, sucking her cries of bliss right out of her.

‘Oh, my God,’ Mary panted as she began to come down from the high, going boneless in his arms. ‘That took me by surprise. I wasn’t expecting that to happen just then.’

Tom grinned at her, lowering her to the bed. ‘Mid-talking as well. I must be doing it right after all.’

‘Oh, believe me, you’re doing it right. You can shut me up any time you like if you’re going to do it like that,’ Mary said, fervently. She looked down at his cock, still hard in her hand, and stroked him, making him close his eyes. ‘Let’s see about shutting you up now.’

Tom blew out a steadying breath then opened his eyes and looked at her. ‘Condom. We need a condom this time.’

‘In the drawer,’ she said, waving her free hand at the bedside cabinet. He leaned over to open the drawer and pull out the box of condoms and Mary took the opportunity to lean up and run her tongue over his abs, smiling as he shivered in response.

‘These are not going to be out of date, are they?’ he said, teasingly as he knelt between her legs to roll the condom on himself.

‘No, I bought them for us while you were in Dublin,’ she said, watching him run his hand over himself.

Tom looked up at her, his face going soft. ‘You did?’

Mary nodded. ‘I was a Girl Guide; I’m conditioned to be prepared. And you promised me sex, so…’

‘Yes, I did,’ he said, stretching out above her, his St Christopher dangling over her again.

Mary stared at it, déjà vu hitting her, then grinned up at him. ‘Go on then. Put it in me.’

Tom smiled down at her. ‘I like a woman who knows what she wants,’ he said, before pushing inside her, quite effectively shutting them both up.

Mary sucked in a breath, then let it out in a rush. She clenched her muscles around him, pulling a whimper out of Tom, who dropped his head down next to hers. Mary turned her head to kiss his neck, dragging her nails lightly across his back, making him shiver in her arms.

‘Christ, Mary,’ he muttered, his voice rough, ‘you feel so bloody good. So hot and wet and tight.’

Mary flexed around him again, giving a low laugh as his whole body shivered. But then Tom began to move his hips and she started to lose her focus.

He started slowly, even though she could feel the tension in his body, then began to pick up the pace. Mary moved with him, meeting his thrusts, her thighs bracketing his hips just as she remembered from Vegas, but better because this was real, not just a memory, and it was actually happening.

Tom pushed himself up on her arms, slamming into her, faster and harder, dropping his head to meet her kiss as Mary reached up for him. She felt the desire surging again, delicious sparks shooting through her body as she peaked once more, shuddering in pleasure as Tom swore and went rigid, shooting inside her.

He collapsed on top of her, lying flat against her, breathing heavily, nose to nose with her. Mary kissed him, mouthing lazily at him. He kissed her back, still coming down from his orgasm, before pushing himself up to reach down and pull out of her, holding on to the base of the condom. He stripped it off, tying a knot in it before dropping it beside the bed.

He lay down next to her, his chest still rising and falling rapidly. Mary rolled over and slung a leg over his, swirling her fingers in his happy trail and resting her head on his shoulders. Tom wrapped his arm around her, pressing a kiss to her hair.

‘Well, I don’t know why you were so nervous,’ she said, with a smile. ‘I think that worked out just fine.’

Tom chuckled. ‘First night nerves. Must have been.’

Mary giggled then lifted her head and looked at the trail of clothes leading to the bed. ‘Do you know, I think we pretty much re-enacted our wedding night almost exactly. Well, as far as I remember.’

‘As far as I’m concerned, this is our wedding night.’

‘If this is what being married to you is going to be like, I’m in,’ she said, kissing his chest.

Tom tightened his arm around her, linking his fingers with hers across his belly. ‘Me too.’

‘In fact, I’ve only got one question.’

He turned his head, peering down at her. ‘What’s that?’

Mary gazed up at him. ‘Why didn’t we start doing this years ago?’

Tom laughed, the movement jiggling Mary’s head. ‘Because you weren’t ready, and I wasn’t brave enough.’

Mary stilled then pushed herself up, looking down at him. ‘What does that mean?’

Tom scanned her face then looked away awkwardly. ‘Nothing.’

Mary stared at him then gently put her hand to his cheek, moving his face back to look at her. ‘It does. How long have you wanted this?’

Tom hesitated. ‘Long enough.’

Mary gazed at him thoughtfully. ‘All right. We’re going to talk about that at some point, but tonight, I’m going to let you do things to me that you may or may not have fantasised about doing in the past. Deal?’

‘Deal,’ he whispered, pulling her down into a kiss.


	28. Chapter 28

Tom came into the library to find Mary propped in the corner of a sofa, her long legs stretched out along the seat cushions, her nose in a book, an empty coffee cup in front of her.

She looked up as he came in, smiling at him. ‘All done?’

‘Finally. I swear I never had to do the kind of homework Sybbie gets when I was her age. She’s seven, for heaven’s sake. I dread to think how I’m going to blag my way through helping her when she’s older.’

Mary smiled, dropping one leg down to the floor and patting the seat between her thighs. ‘Come here, my poor baby. Let me soothe your furrowed brow.’

Tom huffed out a laugh but went to sit there anyway, leaning back against her chest. Mary brushed his hair back from his face, bending slightly to kiss his forehead.

‘What are you reading?’ he asked as she closed her Kindle, tucking it down the side of the sofa.

‘ _Jane Eyre_. Something prompted me to pick it up again. Can’t imagine what.’

‘ _”Reader, I married him,”_ ’ Tom quoted, with a grin. ‘No, I can’t imagine what put that idea in your head. Well, I know who to send Sybbie to when she starts reading the classics at school.’

‘Sod that. We’ll get her a tutor if we need to,’ Mary said, emphatically, as Tom chuckled against her.

She draped her arm over his shoulder, tucking a bold two fingers between the buttons of his shirt, toying with the hidden hair on his chest, part of her mind marvelling that she could do that, that this is how it was between them now.

‘So…’ she said.

‘So…’ he echoed.

‘Are we going to talk about what you said last night?’

‘Which particular bit of what I said last night? As I recall, we were more action than talk last night.’

Mary bit her lip as she thought of some of the things they’d done last night but ploughed on, determined not to let him distract her. ‘You know which bit. The bit where you said I wasn’t ready and you weren’t brave enough to start anything between us before now.’

‘Ah, that bit.’

‘Yes, that bit.’

Tom was silent for a moment before speaking again. ‘What do you want to know?’

‘I want to know what you meant. How long you’ve been thinking about this.’

‘Does it matter?’

‘Indulge my curiosity. I mean, what are we talking? Days? Months? Years?’

Tom hesitated. ‘Months. Maybe a year or so. Possibly slightly longer.’

Mary ran her fingers through his hair, tugging on it slightly. ‘That’s three different answers. Which one is it? How long have you been thinking about me in ways a brother-in-law shouldn’t?’

He didn’t say anything and Mary reached down to tickle him on his ribs, which earned her a startled laugh and a warm feeling inside as he settled more comfortably against her.

‘Come on, tell me.’

Tom sighed. ‘You want me to lay my soul bare, is that it?’

‘I’m not trying to embarrass you, Tom. You know me, I’m a vain woman. If you’ve been pining for me, my vanity needs to know for how long.’

He chuckled. ‘Yes, I can totally see how your self-esteem needs a boost.’

Mary pinched him lightly.

‘Ow!’

‘Serves you right. You’re procrastinating now. Tell me.’

‘All right. I think the first time I noticed a difference in the way I was thinking about you was when you started dating Tony.’

‘Tony Gillingham?’ Mary said in surprise. ‘But that was over two years ago. Nearly two and a half!’

Tom shrugged. ‘I didn’t think he was good enough for you. He didn’t even bother finishing with Mabel Lane Fox before he came sniffing around you.’

‘No, that should have been my first clue,’ Mary said, wrinkling her nose at the thought of her ex. ‘You never said anything at the time.’

‘I didn’t think it was my place to say anything. You’re a grown woman. You didn’t need your brother-in-law telling you who you could and couldn’t see.’

‘You weren’t just my brother-in-law, though, Tom. You were also my best friend.’

‘Well, you seemed happy at first, so I thought maybe I was just being over-protective. Then you went away with him for a few days and didn’t seem so keen when you came back.’

‘No, I wasn’t. I definitely wasn’t,’ Mary said, throwing her mind back to that disappointing trip to Liverpool with Tony.

‘It was obvious to me – and to Anna and Thomas – that you’d gone off him, but he didn’t seem to get the message and it got to me that he was pestering you like he was. You tried to be nice about it, but he just kept harassing you. He was practically stalking you at one point. I was this close to taking him aside for a non-too-friendly chat when he suddenly dropped out of the picture.’

Mary stared at the top of Tom’s head in surprise. ‘Were you?’

‘Honestly? I wanted to punch his lights out for the way he was treating you. I was so relieved when he pissed off. But I still wanted to punch him when I heard he’d married Mabel a few months later. I mean, what kind of a wanker cheats on a woman, hounds his next girlfriend then marries his ex all within the space of about half a year?’

Mary grinned as she ran her fingers soothingly through his hair again, scratching lightly at his scalp. ‘You really don’t like him, do you?’

‘No, I don’t. He’s a dick. But then my reaction to him got me thinking about why I was so pissed off with him. I mean, he hadn’t actually done anything to me. It was all about you.’

‘Did I never tell you why I broke up with Tony?’

‘No.’

‘Well, partly it was because he was so off-puttingly intense. He started talking about marriage within the first few weeks, which, no. No, thanks. But do you want to know the biggest reason?’

‘Go on.’

‘He was absolutely crap in bed. Barely knew what to do with it. God, Tom, it was awful. He never lasted longer than I imagine your average teenager would their first time. And he gave zero thought to what I might need. As soon as he was finished, apparently, so was I.’

Tom barked out a surprised laugh. ‘I don’t know whether to be furious he ever got that close to you or happy that he was a wash-out.’

‘Worst lover ever. I feel nothing but sympathy for Mabel.’ Mary dragged her nails lightly across Tom’s chest under his shirt. ‘So, is that when you started fancying me? After Tony?’

‘I think that’s when I began to wonder if I maybe felt more for you than I should, but it was really when Henry arrived on the scene that I knew I did.’

‘I thought you liked Henry. You and him always seemed as thick as thieves. Are you telling me you didn’t like him either?’

‘No, I did like Henry. He was a good bloke to have as a mate, especially with all those free tickets to the racing circuits.’

‘But?’

‘I was jealous of all the time you spent with him. How it meant I saw less of you. Plus, it bothered me that he never put you first. Whenever it was a choice between you and cars, he chose cars. And I know sometimes, that was his job, but other times it wasn’t. All those times when he’d cancel plans with you to go on a freebie to the F1. That pissed me off, no matter how much I liked the guy. You don’t treat your woman like that. It was complicated though because whenever he blew you off, it meant I got to spend time with you instead and that made me happy even when I was angry with him on your behalf. That’s when I knew my feelings for you had definitely changed.’

Mary felt a surge of affection for him, at how protective he was of her and her feelings. She dropped a kiss on his head again. ‘Henry and I split up ages ago now. How come you never said anything to me?’

Tom was silent for a moment. ‘Because of Sybil. Because I wasn’t sure how you’d react if I told you I wanted to kiss the living daylights out of you. I thought you might tell me to piss off and then Christ knows where we’d be and what it would do to us as a family.’

‘So you just kept your feelings to yourself.’

‘I sound like a right sad sack, don’t I? Pining for my sister-in-law. I did try dating other women, you know I did. Sarah, Edna, a few others. You never liked any of them, did you?’

‘No, I didn’t,’ Mary said, softly, thoughtfully.

Tom sat up, twisting round to face her. ‘Why didn’t you like them, Mary?’

She gazed at him, her eyes sweeping across his familiar features. ‘They weren’t good enough for you. I… I didn’t like to think of you with them. Every time I saw you with any of them, it made me angry.’

Tom said nothing, merely raised his eyebrow at her.

‘I didn’t want to think about it too much, but when I thought about you being with them, sleeping with them, it made me feel a bit sick. And the thought that they might take you away from Downton terrified me.’

‘Yeah?’ he said, softly.

‘Yes. You know how much I hated it when you went to Boston to help your cousin out for those few months.’

‘I know you were a right moody mare about that whole business.’

‘I missed you so much,’ Mary said, quietly. ‘So much.’

Tom gazed at her. ‘Thomas says I asked you to marry me.’

‘I wondered how you knew that when you mentioned it at the dinner table last night. I wondered if you’d remembered it.’

Tom shook his head. ‘I asked him. He also said it only took you about 30 seconds to say yes.’

Mary met his gaze. ‘Did he?’

Tom nodded, not moving his eyes from hers. ‘I didn’t plan to propose to you.’

‘No, I didn’t think you did. Who would do that? Propose to someone they're not in a relationship with.’

‘But I did know how I felt about you.’

Mary swallowed, her mouth suddenly dry. ‘How do you feel about me?’

Tom gazed steadily at her, his feelings all over his face. ‘I love you.’

Mary’s breath caught in her throat. ‘It took me thirty seconds to say yes to you, did you say?’

Tom nodded. ‘According to Thomas, yes.’

‘Well, I was _really_ drunk that night and you know what the Romans used to say about people under the influence of alcohol, don’t you?’

‘What’s that?’

‘ _In vino veritas_. In wine, there is truth. Maybe it took a bucket load of alcohol to let me see what I should have already known.’

‘And what’s that then?’ Tom breathed, edging closer to her.

‘That I love you too.’

Tom leaned forward and kissed her, a deep, tender kiss. Mary looped her arms around his neck and pulled him down on top of her, feeling like her heart might burst.


	29. Chapter 29

‘Good morning!’ Mary trilled as she breezed into the office, casting brilliant smiles at Anna and Thomas.

‘Morning,’ Anna replied, smiling back. ‘You’re in a good mood.’

‘Well, it’s a beautiful day out there. Bright and cold, but the sun is shining, and the leaves on the trees are turning a gorgeous burnished orange. It’s just lovely. A perfect autumn day.’

Thomas frowned at her. ‘All right, John Keats. It’s not that nice a day. And apart from anything else, it’s Monday.’

‘Oh, Thomas, don’t be such a misery guts. You have to find the beauty in the things around you.’

‘Yeah? Well, I’m beautiful. You see my chiselled jaw and razor-sharp cheekbones every day and you don’t get all poetic about it,’ he bellyached, failing to see the glory in another dull Monday in the office.

Mary grinned, dumping her bag on her desk and heading over to where Thomas sat behind his own desk. She leaned over it, catching his chin in her hand, tilting his face from side to side, examining it, her eyes glittering with amusement.

‘You’re right, you are beautiful. Gorgeous, even. Porcelain skin as white as a snowdrift, hair as black as Whitby jet, lips like the red, red rose of Lancaster, eyes as blue as an Icelandic lagoon. Thomas, you are a God amongst men.’

Thomas stared at her, speechless for once, his mouth dropping open in shock as Anna barked out a surprised laugh.

Mary darted forward and kissed his cheek, with a small laugh of her own, asking, ‘Do you want a coffee?’

She gave his chin a little wiggle then released him, spinning away towards the kitchen. ‘Anna, most wonderful of women, how about you? Coffee?’

Anna and Thomas both stared after her as she disappeared into the kitchen then exchanged astonished looks.

‘What the chuff?’ Thomas said, eloquently.

Anna grinned, going back to booting up her computer. ‘Well, I think we can safely say married life agrees with our Lady Mary.’

Thomas cocked his head, pursing his lips, considering that. He got up and headed for the kitchen.

Mary was singing along to the radio, dancing between the cupboards and fridge as she lined up mugs and got the milk out. Thomas leaned against the worktop watching her.

‘All right, Mary Poppins, why are you so bloody happy today?’

Mary threw him another brilliant smile over her shoulder, spooning coffee into the filter. ‘What do you mean? I’m always happy.’

‘You lying cow,’ Thomas snorted, with no real bite behind it. ‘You’re normally a bear with a sore head in the morning. Especially a Monday morning. And you’re making us coffee. You never make the coffee.’

‘Of course, I do,’ Mary said indignantly. ‘I make the coffee all the time.’

‘Anna!’ Thomas shouted through the door. ‘Does Mary ever make us coffee?’

‘Only when there’s a blue moon!’ came the amused response.

‘Huh,’ said Mary, then shrugged and went back to the task in hand.

Thomas eyed Mary speculatively. He shuffled over, leaning on the countertop next to her, bumping her shoulder. ‘Come on. Spill.’

She flicked her eyes up at him. ‘There’s nothing to spill. I’m happy, is all.’

‘Bullshit. You and Tom have finally got it together, haven’t you?’

Mary bit her lip, grinning like a fool. ‘Maybe.’

Thomas nudged her shoulder, a wicked smile on his face. ‘He’s made your toes curl again, hasn’t he?’

‘Oh, Thomas, there’s been so much toe-curling!’ Mary blurted out. ‘Three times last night, five times on Saturday night. And once this morning!’

Thomas stared at her, torn between being delighted for her, mightily impressed and horrified. ‘You did it five times? In one night? Jesus, Mary, go easy on the lad or his cock’ll drop off!’

Mary chuckled, gleefully. ‘’I didn’t say we’d done it five times; I said he’d made my toes curl five times.’

Thomas dropped his head into his hands, shuddering. ‘If you're about to tell me about Tom worshipping at the shrine of your lady bits, I’m not sure I want to know,’ he said, his voice muffled by his fingers.

‘Then you shouldn’t have asked,’ Mary said, hip checking him, a massive smile still on your face.

Thomas dropped his hands looking up at her, a smile tugging at his lips. ‘I’m glad you’re happy, and that it’s working out between you two.’

Mary couldn’t keep the smile off her face. ‘We’ve talked as well as-‘

‘Shagged like bunnies?’

‘- yes, that,’ Mary giggled. She looked at Thomas through her eyelashes, suddenly shy. ‘He told me he loves me.’

Thomas grinned, straightening up and slinging an arm around her shoulder. ‘Yeah? I’m glad he did. He told me he loves you on Friday night when I picked him up. It right warmed the cockles of my heart, it did.’

‘Did he?’ Mary said, her eyes shining.

Thomas nodded. ‘Can’t say as I was surprised, but I’m glad he actually said it to you. What about you? Do you think you’ll get to a point where you can say it back?’

Mary pressed her lips together, practically glowing with happiness. ‘I already have. A lot of things clicked into place this weekend.’

‘Multiple times by the sound of it,’ Thomas said, waggling his eyebrows.

Mary swatted him on the arm. ‘Not just that, bloody amazing as that was. I’ve realised a few things about how I feel about Tom. I think I’ve been a bit blind.’

‘As a fricking bat,’ Thomas agreed, sagely.

‘Everybody else seems to have seen this coming way before I did.’

‘Ah, well, at least you’re on the same page now.’

Mary’s smile threatened to split her face. ‘Oh, yes, we’re definitely on the same page now.’

‘Where is lover boy this morning?’

‘He’s got a meeting in Northallerton. He’ll be back later.’

‘Right, well, I’ve got some ground rules for you. No – I repeat – absolutely no shagging in the office.’

Mary turned to him, looking shocked. ‘We wouldn’t!’

Thomas gave her a look. ‘You’re horny newly-weds, Mary. I know what that means. It means no self-control. I don’t want to come into the office every morning and worry about you two having bonked on my desk or on one of these lovely kitchen worktops. It's unhygienic in the extreme. I don’t want to find anyone’s pubes anywhere near where I have food or drink.’

‘Ew, Thomas!’ Mary pulled a face, while Thomas stared at her sternly. ‘All right, although, I don’t think that would happen. Any more ground rules?’

‘No, that’s it. But it’s a big one, so don’t forget it.’

‘The fact that you’ve even set it as a ground rule makes me wonder if you’ve been sneaking Richard into the office and letting him ravish you over the printer.’

Thomas grinned. ‘That, my pet, is something you will never know. I never kiss and tell.’

Mary snorted, pouring coffee into the cups. ‘Now, who’s a liar? You’ve kissed and told more times than I’ve had hot dinners! Usually to me and Anna! We couldn't shut you up back in the day.’

‘Ah, but that was when it didn’t mean anything. I wouldn’t do that to my darling Richard. He’s a very private man. He doesn’t like me telling people about our sex life, although he should because it’s bloody amazing. Maybe not five-times-a-night amazing, but not all of us are bloody nymphomaniacs.’

‘Shut up and drink your coffee,’ Mary said, still unable to wipe the smile off her face.

* * *

Tom settled his jacket over the back of his chair, sat down and started sifting through his post as he waited for his computer to boot up. He looked up at the sound of wheels rolling over towards his desk. Thomas hove into view still sitting on his chair, a smirk on his face.

‘Thomas. Do you need something?’

‘No, just coming to see if you’re all right.’

Tom looked at his friend, quizzically. ‘I’m fine, thanks.’

‘You sure about that? Don’t need a lie down or anything? Bag of frozen peas for your groin? Tommy Five Times.’

Tom stared at him in confusion. ‘What?’

‘I had a chat with Mary this morning. She said you’d made her toes curl five times in one night.’

Tom went bright red.

‘I’m impressed. I really should have made a play for you if you’ve got that kind of stamina,’ Thomas grinned, chuckling as Tom groaned and put a hand over his face. ‘I’m a bit worried your knob might drop off if you carry on like that, though.

‘Thomas?’ Tom said through gritted teeth.

‘What?’

‘Kindly piss off.’

Thomas let out a deep, rumbling, delighted laugh, propelling his chair back towards his desk. ‘Right you are, Mr Branson, sir. Pissing off now, sir. Just don’t come crying to me when your knob is just a nub.’

Tom made a rude gesture in Thomas’ direction, which just prompted another laugh, and a mental note to talk to Mary about oversharing.


	30. Chapter 30

‘I think you should move into my room,’ Mary said, twiddling her fingers in Tom’s chest hair.

‘Yeah?’

‘Well, it makes sense, doesn’t it? We’ve spent the last few nights together, and I can’t see that changing, can you? Plus, you know, Edith is coming at the weekend. She’ll smell a rat if she sees we’re not sharing a bedroom.’

Tom chuckled. ‘Are you asking me to share your room because you’re worried about appearances?’

‘No, of course, not,’ Mary said, with a lascivious smile. ‘I’m asking you to move in with me because it would be awfully tiresome to have to text you every time I’m horny and ask you to come over and give me a good seeing to. It’s far more convenient to simply roll over and put my hands all over you.’

‘Oh, Mary, you old romantic, you!’ Tom said, tickling her. ‘I mean, how could I say no after such a tenderly put request?’

‘Stop it! Stop it!’ Mary giggled, squirming away from him. ‘All right! I like waking up with you, okay? I like going to sleep in your arms and waking up next to you. Is that romantic enough for you?’

Tom pulled her back towards him. ‘It’ll do. I like waking up with you too. I’ll start moving my stuff in here tomorrow.’

Mary grinned happily and kissed him. ‘Good. I might even help you. Although, we could keep your room as a dressing room. It’s not like we’re short of rooms in this place, is it?’

‘You mean you don’t want to give up too much wardrobe space.’

‘Well, I have a lot of clothes,’ she said, smiling as she kissed him again. ‘But, seriously, Edith would notice if we were sleeping apart.’

‘We’re not going to be sleeping apart for a very long time if I have my way,’ Tom replied, nuzzling at her neck. ‘Only if we’re in separate locations.’

‘Well, I’m not going anywhere any time soon. But, not to kill the mood or anything, what are we going to do about Edith?’

Tom stopped nuzzling her and rolled back to lie on his pillow, sighing. ‘I’m not sure how much of that meeting we can plan. Most of it is going to depend on her.’

Mary blew out a frustrated breath. ‘I hate that that’s the case. I feel like we’re going cap in hand to her to accept us, and I hate that.’

‘Well, one thing will be different this time to the last time we saw her.’

‘What’s that?’

‘Last time, we were still thinking this was a pretend marriage,’ Tom said, looking across at her. ‘Now, we’re both in this for real, aren’t we?’

Mary gazed back at him, a slow, happy smile spreading across her face. ‘Yes, we are.’

Tom’s smile grew as big and happy as hers. ‘Well, then, maybe we just have to show her how happy we are together. I know you and Edith don’t see eye to eye on many things, but I don’t think she actively wants either of us to be unhappy.’

Mary groaned. ‘You’re saying we have to appeal to her better nature? I’m not sure she has one. Edith’s been a sourpuss since birth. While I'm sure she'd like to see you happy, I'm positive she'd be content to see me miserable for all eternity.’

Tom gave her a look. ‘Come on, now. We’re not going to win her over if you take that attitude. For God’s sake, don’t go into this intent on riling her up.’

‘I will try to be nice, Tom, for your sake and for the family, but it won’t be easy. Edith and I are conditioned to get each other’s backs up, you know that. It doesn't take much for either of us to think the worst of the other. Or to say the vilest things to each other.’

‘I tell you what, I’ll make a deal with you,’ Tom said, a cunning look in his eye.

‘What kind of a deal?’

‘For every time you swallow a retort or say something nice to Edith, I promise to do something sexual to you of your choosing when we go to bed that night.’

Mary stared at him, her eyebrows shooting up. ‘You’re trying to bribe me to be nice to my sister with the promise of sexual favours?’

‘You say bribe, I say encouragement through a reward-based system.’

Mary bit her lip, holding back a smile. ‘Oh, yes? And how exactly would this reward-based system work?’

‘A bit like George and Sybbie’s gold star charts. You get a metaphorical gold star every time you’re a good girl.’

‘So, I’d sort of be earning good girl stars to get bad girl rewards? Is that what you’re saying?’

‘Yes, if that’s how you want to think of it.’

‘And how would we keep a tally of these stars? I mean, it’s not like you can actually hand out stars, is it? People would ask questions and I’m not sure I’m up for explaining your sexual reward system to my parents or my grandmother.’

‘No, that’s probably not a conversation we want to have,’ Tom chuckled. ‘How about you keep a tally of what you think qualifies and I keep a tally and we compare notes at the end of the evening?’

‘Hmmm. And what if I slip up? Do you take stars away for that?’

‘Definitely.’

‘But what if she provokes me? It’s hardly fair to take my rewards away if Edith’s been a complete cow and I’ve been forced to defend us.’

‘You can defend us without being nasty.’

‘But, Tom, it’s Edith! She’s bound to say something I can’t ignore!’

‘In that case, I will use my judgment on whether it was or was not your fault.’

Mary thought about that and came up with another question. ‘What if it’s a disaster and I end up with no stars or, worse, a minus number of stars?’

‘Well, if you’re on zero, it looks like no perks for you that night. If you’re on minus stars, maybe I’m choosing the sexual favours you’ll do for me.’

Mary smirked at him, lifting the duvet and letting her eyes rove over his body. ‘You might want to rethink that last rule. I’m not sure it’s working as well as a disincentive as you might think.’

Tom looked at her and laughed. ‘All right. No demerits, then, as it seems that’s more of an incentive than not. I don’t want to reward bad behaviour.’

‘So, let me get this straight. Every time I am nice to Edith or don’t rise to the bait, I get a metaphorical gold star that I can later convert into a sexual reward. Is that right?’

‘That’s about the size of it, yes.’

'And is this good for every day she's here?'

'Yes.'

‘Well, I can’t help feeling there’s something a little debauched about earning sexual favours from being nice to a sibling, but you’ve got yourself a deal, Mr Branson.’

Tom grinned at her. ‘Good. And the best of luck to you, Mrs Branson. Shall we shake on it?’

Mary grinned back at him, shaking her head.

‘No, I don’t think this is the kind of deal you shake on, Tom,’ she said, rolling on top of him and pressing her naked body along the length of his equally naked body. ‘I think it’s the kind of deal you seal in a very different way.’

‘Oh, right,’ Tom said, sliding his hands up over her hips to grab handfuls of her bottom. ‘Have I ever told you I like the way you think?’

‘No,’ Mary purred. ‘Why don’t you show me how much you like the way I think instead?’


	31. Chapter 31

‘She’s already here, then,’ Mary said, resignedly, eyeing Edith’s car in the garage as the kids bundled out of the back seat.

Tom switched the engine off and looked over at her. ‘We knew she was coming.’

‘I just thought it might be a bit later than this. It’s going to be a long evening.’

Tom reached over to pick up her hand. ‘You can do this, Mary.’

Mary squeezed his fingers then looked down at their joined hands. ‘Perhaps we shouldn’t do this in front of her.’

‘Do what?’

‘Touch each other. If she’s still in a mood about us, maybe we shouldn’t rub it in her face.’

Tom smiled and leaned over to kiss her. ‘That is a very thoughtful suggestion. I’m counting that as your first star.’

‘But I haven’t even seen Edith yet,’ Mary said, her lips twitching into a small smile.

‘No, and you’ve already done something nice for her. See? You’ve got this.’

Mary huffed out a sigh, nodding her head. ‘I hope so. I really do.’

‘Mummy! Daddy! Are you coming?’ Sybbie bellowed from the back door, grabbing at her backpack as it slipped off her shoulder, George barrelling into the kitchen in front of her.

‘Right, well, can’t put it off forever, I suppose,’ Mary said, unbuckling her seat belt.

* * *

‘Aunt Edith!’ Sybbie cried, making a beeline for her aunt.

Edith held out her arms, beaming at her niece. ‘Hello, darling! How lovely to see you.’

Sybbie hugged her aunt then moved on swiftly to her little cousin, playing at afternoon tea with their grandmother. ‘Marigold! I've missed you! Can I play too?’

Marigold nodded, eyes wide at the whirlwind of Sybbie’s arrival. ‘You can sit next to Granny. Would you like a cup of tea?’

Cora stroked a hand down Sybbie’s hair, watching as George greeted his aunt, every nerve on edge as she saw Mary and Tom arrive in the library on the heels of their children.

Tom took the lead, coming over to kiss Edith on the cheek as if this visit were like any other. She rose to greet him, grazing his cheek with her lips.

‘Edith, good to see you. Hope the journey wasn’t too bad. The weather’s been wild today.’

‘Hello, Tom. It was fine. Bit windy on the A1, but not too bad.’ Edith looked over his shoulder at her sister. ‘Mary.’

‘Hello, Edith,’ Mary said stepping forward to air kiss her sister as Tom moved out of the way. ‘You’re looking well. That colour is lovely on you.’

Over Edith’s shoulder, Mary saw Tom smile and mouth ‘two’ at her. In front of her, Edith pulled out of the awkward half embrace with an expression on her face that suggested she was waiting for Mary to follow up with a biting comment. When nothing was forthcoming, she simply nodded and said, ‘Thank you.’

Mary looked to her mother, at a loss as to what to say next. Cora patted the seat next to her on the sofa opposite Edith.

‘Why don’t you sit down, Mary? Your father is making tea. He’ll be up in a minute.’

‘Yes, we saw him in the kitchen,’ Mary said, perching next to her mother. ‘I did offer to help him, but he shooed us away.’

‘That sounds about right. He baked a Victoria sponge this morning, so I daresay he wants to bring it out as a crowning glory.’

Tom took a seat next to Edith. ‘How’s Bertie?’

Edith relaxed a little, smiling as she spoke about her fiancé. ‘He’s well. Busy. He’s got so many plans for Brancaster, there simply aren’t enough hours in the day.’

Tom nodded. ‘I know how he feels. We’re much the same here. I might give him a call, see if we can’t brainstorm a few things.’

‘I’m sure he’d appreciate that, Tom. I know you two used to collaborate a lot when he was the agent for the estate. He’d value keeping that connection even though his role has changed now he’s the marquess.’

‘And how about you, Edith?’ Mary chipped in. ‘Are you thinking about helping Bertie out with the estate?’

‘I don’t think I’ll have time between the magazine and my duties as marchioness,’ Edith said, obviously waiting for the snarky comment to follow.

Mary smiled at her. ‘No, I imagine you’re going to be very busy with your new role. I expect with your publishing experience, you’ll be able to offer Bertie some good advice about PR for the estate, which will be massively helpful.’

‘Ah, yes, I suppose I will,’ Edith said, looking at Mary in surprise. Out of the corner of her eye, Mary saw Tom smile and surreptitiously tap three fingers on his thigh.

Sybbie scrambled up from her spot on the floor wedging herself between Mary and Cora, twisting to present her back to Mary.

‘Mummy, I’ve got an itch on my back. Can you scratch it for me?’

‘Whereabouts, poppet?’ Mary said reaching out to scratch Sybbie’s back.

‘Mummy?’ Edith said, sharply.

Mary looked across at her sister, her heart sinking as she took in the furious look on her face.

‘ _Mummy?_ Are you for real?’ Edith spat at her sister.

Sybbie looked over at her aunt, taken aback by the anger in her voice. Marigold looked up at her mother, her lip beginning to wobble.

‘What’s wrong, Aunt Edith?’ Sybbie said, her face scrunched up in confusion.

Edith kept her attention on Mary. ‘You’ve got her calling you, Mummy? You really are the absolute limit, aren’t you?’

‘Edith! Please don’t do this,’ Cora pleaded.

‘Me? I’m not doing anything, Mama. I’m not the one basically stealing my younger sister’s life!’ Edith bit out, glaring at Mary.

‘Cora, could you take the children to another room, please,’ Tom asked, his voice calm but carrying an edge.

Cora nodded, corralling the three children, all of whom were looking at the adults with large, wary eyes.

‘Daddy, have I said something wrong?’ Sybbie asked worriedly, tugging on Tom’s hand.

‘No, love, you’ve said nothing wrong. Mummy and I just need to talk to Aunt Edith,’ he said, brushing a kiss on her forehead. ‘You go with Granny and George and Marigold for a little while.’

Edith snorted at his reference to Mary as Mummy, her anger visibly ratcheting higher. Cora eyed her daughter and hustled the children out of the room, closing the door behind her.

Edith turned on her sister. ‘Mummy? You’ve seriously got Sybbie calling you mummy?’

‘No, I haven’t. It was her decision,’ Mary said, fighting to stay calm.

‘Bullshit! What the fuck is wrong with you, Mary? You’re stealing Sybil’s life! First, you take her husband, now you’re taking her daughter? How dare you!’ Edith yelled, shaking with rage.

‘That’s not true,’ Mary said, still doing her utmost not to fire back at Edith. ‘It was Sybbie’s choice. I didn’t ask her to call me mummy.’

Edith ignored that. ‘Do you even remember having another sister? It’s like you’ve whitewashed Sybil out of your life!’

‘Edith,’ Tom started.

Mary stood up, going toe to toe with her furious sister. ‘Don’t you dare say that to me,’ she said, keeping her voice low and even. ‘You know I loved Sybil.’

‘Yeah? What a load of crap! If you loved her, you wouldn’t be trying to step into her shoes! You’ll never be half the person Sybil was! Sybbie’s not your daughter!’

‘No, she’s mine!’ Tom roared, silencing Edith. ‘How dare you pass judgment on us when you don’t know what’s been happening here! How dare you presume to speak for Sybil! How dare you assume Mary is in the wrong here!’

‘Well, of course, you’d say that,’ Edith spat at him. ‘She’s got you wrapped around her little finger. Christ knows how. I thought you had more sense than that, Tom. Were you seriously so sad and desperate that you had to turn to your wife’s sister?’

Mary glared at Edith, opening her mouth to retort only for Tom to beat her to it.

‘I loved Sybil, loved her with my whole heart, you know I did. She was my everything,’ he said, biting out the words. ‘I will always love her. Just like Mary will always love Matthew. But life goes on, no matter how painful it is for the people left behind. You know that. You lost Michael too.’

Edith bit her lip, scowling at her brother-in-law.

‘You’ve fallen in love again. You’re marrying Bertie in a few weeks,’ Tom continued, his voice gentling a little. ‘If you can fall in love again after losing someone you cared for so deeply, why can’t Mary and I fall in love too? We’ve both been widowed for longer than you’ve been without Michael.’

‘I’m not saying you can’t fall in love again, but why does it have to be with each other? It’s wrong!’

‘Why is it wrong? Did you choose to fall in love with Bertie? Or did it just happen?’

‘That’s different!’ Edith protested.

‘Why? Because you didn’t have any previous links? Mary and I have spent years living and working alongside each other. We’ve been there for each other at the worst times of our lives. We’ve been single parents bringing up our kids at the same time. Is it really such a stretch for you to believe that we might have fallen in love somewhere along the way?’

Edith stared at him, tears forming in her eyes. ‘But she’s Sybil’s sister!’

‘And yet she’s nothing like Sybil, is she? You’d be the first to say that.’

Edith side-eyed her sister. ‘No, I’ll give you that, Mary’s nothing like Sybil,’ she said reluctantly.

‘Then can you accept that I’m not replacing Sybil with Mary? That our relationship is completely unrelated to my marriage to Sybil?’

‘I can’t… I can’t separate the two, Tom,’ Edith said, shaking her head. ‘You’ll always be Sybil’s husband to me.’

‘And I always will be Sybil’s husband. But now I’m also Mary’s husband. And that makes me so happy, Edith. And it makes Mary happy too. And it’s been a long time since either of us has been happy. Do you begrudge us that?’

Edith pressed her lips together, looking up at the ceiling. ‘No, of course, not. I don’t want either of you to be unhappy. Even you, Mary,’ she said, looking sideways at her sister.

Mary took a deep breath and walked over to her sister. ‘Edith, believe me when I say, I know this is hard for you to accept, but we never set out to hurt you or anyone else. I’m not trying to replace Sybil, I’m really not. I didn’t expect to fall in love with Tom, but I have. And I feel lucky beyond measure that he loves me too.’

Edith gave her a long, hard look. ‘And what about Sybbie?’

‘That wasn’t down to Mary,’ Tom said, emphatically. ‘That was Sybbie’s decision with no prompting from either of us. George asked me if he could start calling me Dad. Sybbie heard that and decided she wanted to call Mary Mummy. The kids made that choice themselves.’

‘They’re children, Edith. Both of them have lived their entire lives until now with only one parent. They want to be like the other kids with a mummy _and_ a daddy,’ Mary said, carefully. ‘I know for George, Tom is the only dad he’s ever known. I think our marriage just gave him the opportunity he needed to be able to call the man he thinks of as his dad by that name.’

Edith looked at her askance. ‘Is this your way of saying that Sybbie thinks of you as her mother?’

Mary shook her head. ‘No, if I’m honest, I don’t think she does. But I think she wants to feel part of this little family and if George is claiming Tom as his dad, I think she wants to do the same to me.’

Tom looked at her, a frown creasing his forehead. ‘I don’t think that’s true, Mary. She loves you.’

‘I know she does, but Mummy is just a name, a label, at the moment. Maybe that will change, but whatever Sybbie needs me to be for her, that’s what I’ll be, whether that’s a mother or an aunt. I’ll always be there for her, whatever label she wants to put on that.’

Edith gazed at her consideringly. ‘So, this is real? This little family you’ve got going on?’

Mary nodded. ‘It’s everything. I can’t put it plainer than that. I hope you can accept that, Edith, I really do. Because I could no more throw away this second chance at happiness than I could fly to the moon. Not for anyone.’

Edith sat down, steadying herself by grabbing hold of the edge of the sofa cushions. She was silent for a few moments, thinking things over, while Tom and Mary watched her, both keeping their own counsel.

‘All right, I’ll do my best to get used to this… this new relationship between the two of you. I’ll warn you now, it won’t be easy, but I will try. It just may take me a while to get used to it.’

‘Thank you,’ Mary breathed, more relieved than she’d thought she would be.

‘We appreciate it, Edith, we do,’ Tom said, gently.

‘Right, well, I suppose we’d better summon Mama back and tell her we’ve avoided all-out war then,’ Edith said, awkwardly. ‘Perhaps Papa can lighten the mood with his Victoria sponge. And since when, by the way, does he bake?’

‘Oh, dear God, I’d forgotten about that,’ Mary said, a pained look on her face. ‘He’s become obsessed with the Great British Bake Off just lately. It’s put ideas in his head that have no business being there. I strongly suggest none of us taste it before he does. Just in case.’

Tom chuckled. ‘Poor Robert. You’re both awful, writing him off like that before you’re tasted his creation. He may turn out to be the Mary Berry of Downton Abbey.’

Mary and Edith exchanged a look then said in unison, ‘Then you can taste it first.’

Tom put his hand over his heart, looking at them proudly. ‘The Crawley sisters in total agreement. It gladdens my heart.’

The two sisters simultaneously rolled their eyes at him. Tom chuckled and fished his phone out of his pocket, dialling a number, reluctant as yet to leave Mary and Edith alone. ‘Cora, it’s safe to come back. Bring cake.’


	32. Chapter 32

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things get a bit heated in this chapter...

‘Oh, my God, I hope you’re going to make me _see_ stars tonight because _that_ was _exhausting!'_ Mary declared, sitting on the edge of the bed and flopping dramatically down onto her back. ‘Between playing nice with Edith and spending every minute wondering if Granny was going to bring up the wretched blessing, I am just about done.’

Tom chuckled as he shut the door behind them. ‘You did so well at dinner tonight. I was proud of you. I only had to deduct a few stars.’

She lifted her head, looking at him suspiciously. ‘What do you mean, you had to deduct a few stars? I was so nice to Edith tonight, I almost made myself nauseous. Did you not see the looks Mama and Papa kept giving me? They barely recognised me tonight. Who is this stranger, they were thinking, and what has she done with our beloved Mary?’

Tom raised an amused eyebrow at her. ‘That’s true, you were nice, but you slipped up a few times, you know you did.’

‘When?’ Mary cried, indignantly.

‘You criticised Edith’s choice of flowers for her wedding bouquet. She was not happy about that.’

‘That wasn’t me being nasty! That was me helping her! She’s picked lilies, for God’s sake! Everyone knows they are a funeral flower. Why would you want a flower associated with death at your wedding? It's a massive faux pas. Plus, if she gets the pollen on her wedding dress, that is going to stain badly.’

‘Still, I thought we were sliding back into dangerous territory there, so minus one star there. And you totally ruined her joke. That’s another star gone.’

‘I did not!’

‘You did. You stepped all over the punchline.’

‘Well, it was a stupid joke, anyway. Nobody was going to laugh at it.’

‘Still cost you a star, though.’

Mary pouted. ‘You are so mean. So, come on, what’s your tally for my stars then?’

‘Ten.’

‘Ten? Does that include the three I got before the blow up in the library at teatime?’

‘Yes.’

‘Ten??? I made it at least double that!’ Mary sputtered, sitting up in outraged protest.

‘Oh, no, I don’t think so. You were good but not that good.’

‘I was the epitome of kindness, magnanimity and restraint!’

Tom gave her a look that eloquently said ‘really?’ without him having to say a word.

Mary made a grumpy noise. ‘All right, okay, what if we split the difference? Call it fifteen?’

‘I’ll go to twelve. No more than that. You can’t count things like passing her the salt, Mary. That’s just good manners.’

‘Hmmmmph, you’re a hard taskmaster, Branson,’ Mary complained, flopping back down on the bed. ‘Okay, fine, I’ll accept twelve stars to redeem at my leisure. Although, I want to cash one in right now. I’ve had a very stressful day and need to relieve some tension.’

‘Okay. What do you want?’ Tom said, smirking at her.

Mary propped herself up on her elbows, peering up at him thoughtfully through her lashes. ‘I want your mouth.’

‘Okay. And where do you want my mouth?’

‘Right here,’ she said, smiling lewdly up at him and tapping her hand at the apex of her thighs. ‘Your fingers too.’

‘Mouth and fingers, eh? That will cost you two stars.’

Mary frowned at him. ‘No, I don’t think so. It’s one act, so it’s one star.’

Tom crossed his arms over his chest, staring her down. ‘It’s two acts even if it’s done at the same time, so it’s two stars.’

Mary huffed out a displeased noise. ‘So, not only are you knocking legitimately earned stars off my tally, you’re also bargaining down the value of my stars. I’m beginning to wonder why I decided to stay married to you after all.’

‘Then let me remind you,’ Tom said, getting down on his knees. He pushed the skirt of Mary’s dress up, hooking his thumbs into the side of her knickers and easing them down her thighs, right down to her ankles before sliding them off and throwing them to one side.

‘I have to say, I think your reward system worked,’ Mary said, lying back on the bed as he settled himself between her legs, shouldering her thighs further apart and pulling her closer to the edge of the bed before leaning in to apply himself to the task at hand. ‘There were so many things I could have said to Edith tonight that would have lost me a star and I didn’t precisely because of… _oh… oh, yes…_ that. It may actually have been one of your… _oh, dear Lord…_ more inspired ideas.’

Tom didn’t reply, his mouth being otherwise occupied.

‘I mean, when she started talking about the bridesmaids’ dres.. _oh, my God, yes… oh, keep doing that… yes…_ dresses, I could have said something _the-e-e-en_. That insipid pink colour. Of course, Edith, would … _oh… oh, yes… just there, just like that…_ go for that awful colour… _ngggggghhhhhhh… ngggggghhhhhhh…_ if it’s insipid, Edith _auto…_ automatically _lo-oves_ it. She’s going … _yes … oh, yes…_ to dress poor Sybbie like one of the _d-dolls_ she had when we were _child-chil_ … _oh my God, Tom! Don’t stop doing that. Don’t you... don't you dare… ngggggghhhhhhh…stop doing that! Oh, God!’_

Mary dissolved into a series of unintelligible moans, groans and sighs, interspersed with the odd expletive and encouraging words or directions, unable to follow a focused train of thought any longer. She alternated between thrusting her hips up into Tom’s face and futilely trying to wriggle away from him when it all got too much for her to take. Tom kept her firmly in place, weighting her down with one arm strategically placed over her tummy while the other hand worked in concert with his tongue, driving her wild.

Mary reached down, threading her fingers through his hair, holding him exactly where she wanted him as she gasped and writhed and moaned until her climax crashed through her, making her buck her hips into his face.

‘Oh, my… oh, my… oh, my God! Ah…that was… that was…definitely, definitely worth two stars. Definitely,’ she panted out, her chest heaving as she lay on the bed, a boneless puddle of satisfaction.

Tom leaned back on his heels, wiping his hand across his mouth and grinning wickedly at her. ‘You have no idea how good it feels when I finally make you stop talking like that. I thought you were never going to shut up. You were about to give me a complex.’

Mary let out a shaky laugh. ‘Oh, my darling, however good that felt to you, I don’t think it felt as good as it did to me. Believe me.’

Tom got to his feet, leaning over her, and bending down to kiss her. ‘You up for a bit more?’

Mary waggled her eyebrows at him. ‘Did that get you all riled up, did it?’

Tom settled on top of her, letting her feel his hardness. ‘What do you think? Going down on my super-hot wife and rendering her speechless? God, yes. I am the definition of riled up. So, what do you say? Ready for round two?’

Mary pretended to think about that. ‘Will it cost me any more stars?’

He grinned at her, shaking his head. ‘No, this will be a freebie. Compliments of the house.’

‘Well, I can’t say no to a freebie, can I? And you might do yourself a mischief if we don’t get you sorted out. Can’t be having that. Not when I still have ten stars left to cash in.’

‘That is a very good point. You really need to keep me sweet.’

'I suppose I do,' Mary whispered, wrapping her arms around his neck, kissing him, wet and deep. Tom groaned low in the back of his throat.

‘You’d better get your kit off, then,’ she said when she let him go. ‘And maybe while you're at it you could get mine off too because I’m not sure I have full control of my limbs back just yet.’

‘It will be my pleasure,’ Tom murmured, kissing his way down her neck and chest to the swell of her breasts.

Mary closed her eyes, surrendering herself to the curls of pleasure licking through her body.


	33. Chapter 33

‘I think that went better than expected,’ Cora said in satisfaction as they waved Edith and Marigold off on their journey back up to Northumberland.

‘I suppose it did,’ Mary agreed, mentally totting up the number of stars she now had safely in the bank. Tom would likely try to bargain her down, but it was still a not-insignificant number. She smiled to herself, thinking what fun she was going to have cashing in those stars over the next few weeks.

‘Look at you, smiling like a Cheshire cat,’ her mother said, happily. ‘It’s so good to see my girls getting on so much better.’

Mary tried to change the subject, feeling guilty and slightly horrified that her mama had misinterpreted her joy over her increased stash of sex stars as some kind of delight at not being at loggerheads with her sister.

Yes, well, I suppose we are. Sort of. But it’s nice to be on our own again, isn’t it? It’s exhausting having visitors.’

‘Oh, darling, Edith’s not a visitor.’

‘Yes, she is. She doesn’t live here anymore, ergo she is a visitor,’ Mary pointed out, as they turned to go back into the house.

‘That’s true, but she’ll always have a home here if she wants one,’ Robert said, calling his faithful Labrador to heel.

‘Not when I’m in charge,’ Mary muttered under her breath.

‘What was that, Mary? I didn’t quite catch it,’ Cora asked, quickstepping up beside her daughter.

‘Oh, nothing, Mama, I was just thinking a cup of tea might be nice, and maybe a slice of Papa’s surprisingly delicious Victoria sponge,’ Mary said, quickly, watching her father puff up with pride at the mention of his cake.

‘It was rather good, wasn’t it? Not bad for a beginner. I think I might have missed my calling.’ Robert turned back to the front lawn where Tom had two children hanging off him. ‘Sybbie, George, leave your poor father alone and come and get some cake!’

George released his stranglehold on Tom’s neck and slithered down his back to drop onto the grass. He looked over at Sybbie. ‘Race you!’ he said and shot off like a rocket, Sybbie hot on his heels.

Mary stood at the door waiting for Tom to amble over as the children dashed past her, following their grandparents to the kitchen. Tom slung his arm over her shoulders as they made their way inside, shutting the great door behind them.

‘Well, we survived a weekend with Edith,’ he said, with a grin. ‘That’s more than I thought we would on Friday. Go us, eh?’

‘We did. And I believe I also earned a rather large number of stars with my impeccable behaviour. Don’t you agree?’

Tom chuckled. ‘Good to see you’re focusing on what’s most important here, Mary.’

Mary put her arm around him, tucking her fingers into the back pocket of his jeans and squeezing his bum. ‘Edith’s gone, so establishing my star count is the most important thing now, Tom. I make it 42.’

Tom let out a peal of laughter. ’42? Oh, darlin’, God loves a trier, so He does.’

Mary pinched him. ‘Stop laughing! Go on, then, what miserly number are you going to tell me I’ve earned?’

‘I think you’re on 25.’

’25??? You’ve got to be joking! She’s been here for two days! I absolutely got more than that.’

He shook his head. ‘Nope, you definitely got more and more tetchy with Edith as time went on, so I had to make deductions.’

‘Well, of course, I got tetchy, Tom. It’s Edith and I do not have the patience of a saint, even when I’m trying my hardest, I admit that. You won’t believe how difficult it is to swallow the words that come naturally when she says something ridiculously idiotic, which she does _all the time_. Don’t you think I deserve my 42 stars?’ Mary said, batting her eyes at him.

Tom looked at her consideringly, a smile playing on his lips. ‘I tell you what, because you did so well and you did try hard to be nice to her, I’ll up it to 30 stars.’

’35,’ Mary said promptly.

’32,’ Tom countered. ‘Final offer, take it or leave it.’

Mary harrumphed, narrowing her eyes at him. ‘You drive a hard bargain, but I’ll take it.’

Tom curled the arm that lay around her shoulders, drawing her in closer to him. He leaned in to kiss her. ‘Deal.’

‘Ugh, Granny, they’re kissing again,’ George’s voice echoed through the Great Hall. Mary pulled away from Tom, looking over to see her son coming up from the kitchen holding a fistful of cake forks, his grandmother behind carrying a tray full of cups, a teapot, milk jug and sugar.

Cora grinned at them. ‘So, they are, George. I think you might have to get used to that.’

‘Let me take that, Cora,’ Tom said, walking forward to relieve his mother-in-law of the heavy tray and heading to the library.

After Robert and Sybbie arrived with the cake and a stack of plates, and they settled down to eat, Cora decided to broach a subject Mary had forgotten about.

‘So, I think we should talk about the party.’

‘What party?’ Mary said, taking a delicate bite of her cake.

‘Your party. The one to celebrate yours and Tom’s marriage. We said we’d have one so everyone would know we’re happy about the situation.’

‘Is that the party you promised me a new dress for, Mummy? And shoes!’ Sybbie said, waving her cake-filled fork about in excitement.

‘Yes, darling,’ Cora answered on Mary’s behalf then turned her attention back to Mary and Tom. ‘Now Edith’s on board with your relationship-‘

‘I think that might be overstating it a bit, Mama,’ Mary said, aiming to bring some realism to the conversation. ‘She’s trying to accept it, but she’s not comfortable with it yet, not by a long shot.’

‘But she will be, so we may as start planning the party now.’

‘But shouldn’t we wait until after Edith’s wedding? I mean, that’s only a few weeks away now.’

‘And that’s precisely why we need to throw you two a party as soon as possible. Many of the people who will be on the guest list will be at the wedding and we need to make sure you and Tom are not the topic of conversation as Edith walks up the aisle otherwise she will not be happy.’

Mary stared at her mother, unable to argue with the truth of that.

‘Edith is getting married in three weeks, so I was thinking we could have the party the weekend before the wedding’ Cora went on. ‘I doubt Edith and Bertie will come because they will likely have things to do, but if we can squeeze it in then, it will do the trick. People will be able to congratulate you then instead of on their big day.’

Tom looked over at Mary, nudging her gently. ‘I think Cora’s got a point. Edith will be livid if people are congratulating us at her wedding reception. We should give them the opportunity to do that before the wedding, so we’re not a novelty on the day itself. We don't want to undo all the good work we've put in this weekend, do we?’

Mary pursed her lips, knowing what they were saying made sense, but still reluctant to agree to a party.

‘Darling, you know I’m right,’ her mother said, coaxingly.

‘Fine. We’ll have a party, but I only want close family and friends, not the world and his wife descending on Downton,’ Mary said, finally.

‘Of course not,’ Cora replied, shiftily.

Mary narrowed her eyes. ‘I mean it, Mama.’

‘Well, I’ll do my best, but we will have to have some other people there, people who will also be at Edith’s wedding, like Papa’s Lord Lieutenant cronies, otherwise there’s no point. We can’t just invite the people who already know about you and Tom.’ Cora pointed out, reasonably.

Mary sighed in defeat. ‘All right, do what you must. But Thomas and Anna must be on the list. I’ve already promised them that.’

‘Of course, I would expect nothing less,’ Cora nodded, beaming at her daughter.

‘Thomas is coming?’ George piped up, a broad smile on his face. ‘I love Thomas! He’s such fun!’

Mary smiled at her son then tried to look stern. ‘He is, but don’t you be pestering him all day to play with you. He’ll want to talk to the grown-ups too.’

‘I don’t think he will,’ Sybbie said, confidently. ‘Thomas loves me and George. He said we’re his favourite people in the whole world last time he was here. Except for Richard, of course. He likes him a lot too.’

Tom chuckled. ‘That’s right, Sybbie, he does. And you may well be right, but if Thomas wants to talk to other people besides you and George, you must let him and not try to keep him to yourselves for the whole party.’

Sybbie and George shared an altogether too conspiratorial look before Sybbie grinned and nodded. ‘All right, Daddy, but I’m telling you now, he’s probably going to want to spend all his time with me and George. What with us being his favourites.’

‘I was thinking I’d ask Mrs Patmore to do the catering. Her food is so delicious; it would be perfect for the occasion. I hope it won’t be too short notice for her.’

‘if it is, perhaps I could help out by baking a few cakes for the occasion,’ Robert said eagerly.

Mary hid a grin. ‘Perhaps you could suggest that to Mrs Patmore, Papa,’ she said, fervently wishing she could be there when that happened.

‘Mrs Patmore will be doing the food?’ George breathed, his eyes shining. ‘Can I ask her to make my favourites?’

‘Maybe a few of them, George,’ his doting grandmother replied. ‘But it can’t all be your favourites. We need to make sure there are things other people will like too.’

‘This is going to be the best party ever,’ George crowed. ‘My favourite food and Thomas to play with. It’s going to be awesome!’

Mary looked over at her husband, already feeling control of the event slipping through her fingers. ‘Right, well, it looks like we’re going to be the chief exhibits at the zoo, Tom. Brace yourself.’

George stared at her, his eyes like saucers, a huge grin on his face. ‘Are we having a zoo at the party too? Double awesome!’

Mary groaned and shook her head as the rest of the family laughed and Tom tried to explain to George there wasn’t actually going to be a parade of zoo animals at the party. It was going to be a long two weeks.


	34. Chapter 34

Mary set a mug of coffee down in front of Anna, smiling at her while she finished up on the phone.

‘Right, that’s lovely. Okay, yes, thank you, you’ve been very helpful. I’ll email through the final details of the order later today. Thank you very much. Goodbye.’ Anna ended the call and nodded at Mary. ‘Thank you. That’s just what I needed. Well, that’s the balloons ordered.’

‘Balloons? For what? Have we got an event on I don’t know about?’ Mary asked, settling behind her own desk, mug in hand.

Anna looked askance at her. ‘Yes, the party in two weeks.’

‘What party?’ Mary said, sipping on her coffee.

‘Yours,’ Anna said, looking at her in surprise. She gestured between Mary and Tom. ‘The one for you two.’

Mary stared at her. ‘What?’

‘Didn’t you know? I thought… her ladyship led me to believe you knew about the party. Oh, heavens, I haven’t spoiled the surprise, have I?' Anna said, looking suddenly stricken.

‘No, you’re fine, Anna,’ Tom said, looking between her and Mary. ‘We know about the party.’

‘Oh, thank goodness for that,’ Anna said, with a relieved laugh. ‘For a minute there, I thought I’d ruined it.’

‘I didn’t know you were helping to organise it or that there were going to be balloons,’ Mary said, tartly.

Anna looked at her uncertainly. ‘Your mother called me and asked me to organise it. It is my job.’

‘For the estate. Not for us.’

‘I don’t mind. I’ve got all the contacts to get things done quickly,’ Anna said, trying to reassure Mary everything was fine.

‘Well, I mind,’ Mary said, sharply, with a face like thunder.

There was an awkward silence then Tom glanced over at Thomas and flicked his head towards the kitchen. Thomas gave him a slight nod and took hold of his mug before looking over at Anna and raising his eyebrows meaningfully. ‘Batesy, why don’t we go and see if there are any biscuits left in the kitchen?’

‘Er, yes, right, okay,’ Anna said, picking up her own mug. ‘Back in a mo.’

Mary looked over at Tom, completely unamused, as the two of them left the room. ‘That was subtle.’

‘What’s up? Why are you getting worked up about Cora asking Anna to arrange the party? She is our event planner.’

‘For the estate!’ Mary cried, in frustration.

‘You’ve never objected before when Cora has asked her to do private occasions.’ Tom studied her carefully. ‘Anyone would think you don’t want this party.’

‘Then they’d be right,’ Mary snapped. ‘Because I don’t.’

‘Okay. And why’s that then?’

‘Because it feels like a big fat lie!’ Mary cried, the words bursting from her.

Tom regarded her silently for a moment. ‘Why? Because it’s not. Not any more. Unless you’re about to tell me you’re having second thoughts about us.’

Mary looked at him, her mouth dropping open. She shook her head vigorously. ‘No, of course, I’m not.’

‘Then I don’t understand. Why are you so against a party to celebrate our marriage? Why does it feel like a lie?’

Mary let out a sigh, pushing her hair back from her face. ‘I just… it means we have to lie about how we started, and I don’t want to do that. I mean, it’s nobody’s business but ours, is it?’

‘Come here,’ Tom said, pushing his chair back from his desk and gesturing at Mary to join him.

She rolled her eyes but got up from her desk anyway, wandering over to him. Tom reached out as soon as she was near enough and pulled her onto his lap.

‘It’s only a little white lie. And hardly anyone will know that,’ he said, gently, wrapping one arm around her waist and lacing the fingers of his other hand with hers.

‘It just feels wrong, not telling people the truth.’

‘But you know we can’t do that. The whole point of this is to stop people gossiping, not to give them a whole new juicy side of the story.’

‘I know. I just… I don’t like it. And what if one of us slips up with our story? Isn’t that going to make people talk?’

‘We won’t slip up. We’ve kept it simple, just added six months to the timeline.’

Mary nodded, still not looking happy.

Tom stroked her lightly on her hip. ‘Does it help if I tell you I’m pretty sure I was already falling in love with you six months ago?’

Mary bit her lip, trying to suppress a smile. ‘Maybe. How much in love were you? You know, roughly.’

Tom smiled, tipping his head from side to side as he weighed that up. ‘Maybe 25% of the way there.’

Mary pouted at him, her eyes twinkling. ‘Only 25%? And here was me thinking you’d been fighting your feelings for months because you were so hopelessly in love with me.’

‘Okay, maybe it was more like 40%,’ Tom said, with a grin. ‘Maybe. Definitely no more than 50%.’

Mary giggled. ‘I knew it. I bloody knew it. You’ve been perving on me for months, haven’t you?’

Tom shook his head, mock indignantly. ‘Not perving, Mary. It was love!’

‘Oh, yeah? And you’re telling me you never had any indecent, very un-brother-in-law-like thoughts about me in all those months?’

‘No, I’m not telling you that at all. I had some very indecent thoughts about you. Some thoroughly indecent but very lovely thoughts about you,’ he said, laughing. He leaned close to whisper in her ear. ‘They may or may not have kept me very happily entertained on several occasions, those indecent thoughts.’

‘I’ll just bet they did,’ Mary chuckled, sneaking in a quick kiss. She caught her lip between her teeth, gazing at him. ‘Shall I tell you a secret?’

‘A secret? Go on then, I’m all ears.’

‘I may have had a couple of dreams about you over the last few years.’

‘Really? What kind of dreams?’

‘Dreams of an erotic nature,’ Mary said, blushing slightly.

Tom chuckled. ‘Well, well, well. Did you really?’

‘The first time it happened, I could barely look at you the next day. I was like a blushing schoolgirl all day. So much so that you asked me what was wrong with me. The second time it happened, it was the complete opposite. I couldn’t stop staring at you the next day. And I wasn’t subtle about it either because you asked me several times why I was staring at you. Not that I could tell you why.’

Tom squinted at her, casting his mind back. ‘I think I remember that. Was it the day we went to watch Henry testing a car? Every time I turned around, you were just staring at me like you wanted to either eat me alive or kill me.’

Mary nodded. ‘Yes, it was. There was this female pit mechanic there and you spent nearly all day talking to her and all I could think was, “Keep your hands off him, bitch”. I should have known then that something was up really, shouldn’t I?’

Tom looked at her in surprise. ‘Did you really think that?’

‘I absolutely did. But then, looking back, that’s more or less what I’ve thought about all your girlfriends over the last few years.’

Tom stared at her, tucking her hair behind her ear. ‘I can’t help thinking we’ve maybe wasted a lot of time being a couple of oblivious and/or fearful idiots.’

Mary shrugged. ‘Oh, I don’t know. Maybe we had to wait for the stars to align or something. I did have a third dream about you, one that really had me on edge. Do you want to know when I had that one?’

‘When?’

Mary gazed straight at him. ‘In Vegas, the night before we got married.’

Tom stared at her. ‘Seriously?’

‘Yes. And it was a full-on, no-holds-barred kind of a dream if you know what I mean. Left nothing to the imagination. I can’t help but wonder if that wasn’t part of the reason I said yes so fast when you proposed.’

‘Well, thank God for dirty dreams, is what I say,’ Tom breathed, stretching up to kiss her.

‘What time is it?’ Mary asked when they broke apart.

Tom glanced at his watch. ‘Twenty to twelve. Why?’

Mary shifted deliberately on his lap, smiling seductively. ‘I think we should take a long lunch. Maybe pop home for a couple of hours. What do you think?’

‘I think that is the best idea I’ve heard all day,’ Tom said, a big smile on his face.

‘Get your coat then; you’ve pulled,’ Mary said, winking at him as she got off his lap and headed back to her desk for her bag.

Tom stood up, grabbing his phone and his car keys, yanking his jacket off the back of his chair. ‘What about the party? Are you all right with Anna sorting it out?’

Mary sighed. ‘Yes, okay. Mama’s going to plough ahead with it anyway. Anna may as well help her out. And I do understand the logic behind it all.’

‘Maybe we could reintroduce the star system for the day. Give you a star for every time you have to spin the tale to someone,’ Tom suggested.

‘Goodness me, Tom. You might want to check the size of the guest list before you go promising me that. Knowing Mama, it’s going to be sizeable. You could end up with a huge star debt.’

Tom held out his hand to her, his eyes twinkling. ‘You make it sound like that’s a bad thing.’

‘Not for me, it’s not,’ she laughed, taking his hand. ‘You might think twice about that though when I’ve got you doing all manner of things to me for months to come.’

‘Not a chance of that happening. I will relish you cashing in every one of those stars,’ Tom said, his voice doing that low sexy thing Mary had decided she really liked.

‘God,’ she breathed, her pulse racing. ‘Let’s go home. Now.’

Tom chuckled as she towed him out of the office.

‘Anna, the party’s still on. Do your worst with the balloons,’ Mary shouted over her shoulder as they reached the outside door of the office. ‘Tom and I will be back this afternoon.’

Thomas and Anna came out of the kitchen watching Tom and Mary hustle over to their car and drive off.

‘Well, two guesses where those two lovebirds are going and what they’re going to do when they get there,’ Thomas said, grinning.

Anna shot him a look. ‘I’m just glad they’ve left to do it and me and you didn’t have to hide in the kitchen pretending we couldn’t hear them at it.’

Thomas blanched. ‘Jesus, Batesy, why did you have to go and say that? I’ve got to go and bleach my brain now.’

‘And my work here is done,’ Anna chuckled, heading back into the office to finalise her balloon order.


	35. Chapter 35

‘I hear you’ve got Anna organising the party,’ Mary said, coming to stand by her mother as Cora stirred a pan full of bolognese.

‘Yes, I thought she’d be able to help because it’s such short notice. And she’s so good, Anna, I knew she’d be able to pull it all together much quicker than I could, even with Phyllis helping me.’

‘And you didn’t think to tell me? Or ask me?’

Cora looked up at her. ‘Why? Is it a problem?’

‘Well, I did feel a bit stupid when Anna mentioned it and I knew nothing about it. She thought she’d ruined a surprise party.’

‘I’m sorry, darling. I didn’t think you’d mind.’

‘Do you have a guest list drawn up?’

‘It’s over there in the folder on the kitchen table.’

Mary wondered over to poke through the folder, pulling out a guest list, neatly printed on three sheets of A4 paper. She stared at it, flipping through the pages then waved it at her mother. ‘I thought we were keeping the numbers down!’

‘We are,’ Cora said, tasting her Bolognese.

‘There are three pages of names here, Mama! Three!’

‘Yes, and that is the cut-down list. I could easily have invited another three pages of guests, but I’ve kept it small like you requested.’

‘This is not the small do I had in mind.’

Cora turned to look at her. ‘Mary, you’re not going to be difficult about this, are you?’

‘It’s just not what I expected. Anna was ordering balloons, for God’s sake.’

‘Oh, good. Did she get them sorted out?’

‘Mama, why are we having balloons? It’s not a child’s birthday party.’

‘No, but it is a celebration. We thought it would be nice to have a balloon arch over the table with the cake.’

‘There’s a cake?’ Mary looked sharply at her mother. ‘Oh, God, please tell me Papa isn’t making it.’

Cora chuckled, going back to stirring her sauce. ‘Fear not, my darling. We’re getting the cake from a professional cake maker. That’s not to say your father didn’t offer, but I managed to head him off at the pass. He would have been baking a dozen or more cakes to make sure all the guests would get a slice.’

‘Hmm, well, at least that’s something, I suppose. What else should I expect? A small circus? Acrobats tumbling across the Great Hall or swinging from the chandeliers?’

‘Don’t be silly. We’re just making it look like a celebration; a few flower arrangements, the cake, the balloon arch, the buffet and drinks.’

‘And who’s coming to this little shindig then?’

‘You’ve got the list; take a look at it and see.’

Mary turned her attention to the list, flicking through it. ‘There are a lot of people on here that I only have a passing acquaintance with, and I doubt Tom even knows half of them.’

Cora put the lid on the pan and came over to sit next to Mary at the table. ‘Darling, you surely must have expected that.’

‘No, Mama, I can’t say as I did. This is a party for us, after all.’

‘Oh, Mary, don’t be so naïve. This party is for you and Tom, but it’s not really about you, and I think you know that. This party is about staving off any gossip that may detract from Edith’s wedding. I know you may find that difficult to swallow, but that’s the reality of it. It’s damage control.’

‘Because Tom and I were so stupid and irresponsible in Las Vegas, you mean,’ Mary said, petulantly.

Cora sighed, reaching out to put her hand gently on Mary’s arm. ‘All right. Come on, out with it. Why are you in a grump about this? It’s just a party. You’ve glided through a thousand parties like this before without batting an eyelid. Why are you so out of sorts about this one?’

‘Because this one is different. Because Tom and I are at the centre of it.’

‘And that’s a bad thing? I could see why you might be irritable about this party if we were still trying to peddle a lie, but you and Tom are together for real now, aren’t you?’

‘And that’s exactly why I don’t want this charade, Mama. This thing between Tom and me, it’s so new and so much more than I ever expected it could be. But it feels like we’re sullying it by lying to people – some of whom we know and some I wouldn’t recognise if I passed them on the street! – about it. About how we started.’

‘But that’s precisely why we have to put on a show, Mary, so people won’t suspect what really happened. It’s all about keeping up appearances, you know that.’

‘I know, I know. I just don’t like it.’

‘Well, darling, I’m afraid you’re just going to have to suck it up and put on your game face. You know, if you and Tom had married as you did at any other time, we might have been able to play this differently, but we simply can’t risk any upset at Edith’s wedding.’

‘Edith. Oh, yes, we mustn’t upset our precious Edith and her blasted wedding.’

Cora narrowed her eyes at Mary. ‘That’s enough, Mary. I don’t want people gossiping about you at Edith’s wedding, no, but do you know the overwhelming reason why I don’t want that to happen?’

‘Because you don’t want me stealing any of Edith’s thunder on her big day.’

‘That’s part of it, but the biggest reason is because I see how it is between the two of you and I’m scared that if you overshadow Edith’s wedding day, she will never forgive you,’ Cora said, vehemently. 'I’ve already lost one daughter and I simply couldn’t bear it if the two I have left become alienated as I fear you would.’

Mary stared at her mother, her mouth dropping open.

‘You have no idea how difficult it is for your father and I to watch you two girls constantly battering each other. We love you both and sometimes it feels like you want us to choose between you. And I simply can’t do that and neither can your papa.’

‘Mama, I certainly don’t mean for you to feel like that, and I’m sure Edith doesn’t either.’

‘Maybe not, but we do. Edith’s reaction to your relationship with Tom was so extreme, I really thought this was the thing that would break you apart forever. And I can’t have that, Mary. So, while I know you don’t want to have this party and that I’m overdoing it with the guest list, I’m asking you to do this for me and your father,’ Cora gazed earnestly at her daughter. ‘If we can smooth over the edges of this thing, I hope and pray that Edith will come around to you and Tom, especially once she’s married herself, and we can be a family, not a fractured group of people who can never be in the same room again.’

Mary was silent, taking in everything her mother had said.

‘It’s really that important to you? You really think it could make that much of a difference?’ she asked, quietly.

‘I do. I truly do. It would break my heart to see my girls estranged.’

Mary put her hand over her mother’s, squeezing it gently. ‘Then I will do it, Mama. I’ll tell people whatever we need to to make Edith’s wedding go off perfectly.’

Cora smiled at her, leaning forward to press a kiss to her forehead. ‘Thank you, darling. That means the world to me. And to be fair, it’s not like you’re lying. People will take one look at you and Tom together and know you are head over heels for each other.’

Mary smiled shyly. ‘Are we that obvious?’

‘Oh, Mary, the lights of Times Square are less obvious than you two are about the way you feel about each other. And I’m so happy for you, my darling. For both of you. I just want Edith’s wedding to go well and for her to be just as happy. Because when my girls are happy, so am I.’

‘All right, Mama. You’ve persuaded me. I will do this for you and Papa. And Edith, I suppose.’

‘And you won’t be sullying anything about your relationship with Tom. You both know the truth about how you fell in love. That’s all that really matters.’

Mary nodded, picking up the guest list again. ‘Well, let me just check this over again, just so I’m prepared. I hope you haven’t asked Larry Grey. I said some rather cutting things to him at Papa’s dinner the other week. He’d be sure to make a scene.’

‘No, Dickie and Isobel will be there, but not Larry. I know he and Tom don’t get along.’

‘Nobody gets along with Larry. He’s an arse of the highest order,’ Mary declared, feeling the need to stick up for Tom.

Cora chuckled, standing up to go back to her simmering pan of bolognese. ‘You’ll get no arguments from me on that.’

‘Is there anything else I need to know about the party?’

‘No, I don’t think so. Oh, maybe there’s one thing I should tell you,’ Cora said, picking up her spatula.

‘What’s that then?’

‘Well, you know I said your father wasn’t making the cake.’

‘Oh, tell me you weren’t lying,’ Mary said, trepidation curling in her stomach.

‘No, not exactly. He’s not making the main cake, but he did want to bake something.’

‘Oh, Lord. Tell me. What’s he making?’

‘Cupcakes. Over a hundred of them.’

Mary stared at her mother. ‘Cupcakes?’

‘Yes. He’s going to ask you tonight what flavours you want them to be, so you might want to have a think about that.’

‘Cupcakes,’ Mary repeated, slightly shocked. ‘He’s going to make a hundred cupcakes.’

‘Yes. If I were you, I’d stick to the simple choices; Victoria sponge and a chocolate one. Don’t overwhelm him, not on his first big bake. And don’t tease him about it either. He’s so delighted to be making them.’

‘But what if they’re awful?’

‘Then we won’t put them out. But I don’t think you need to worry about that. He made a practice batch, and they were quite delicious. George already had two before I could stop him. Plus, Robert is his own harshest critic. He won’t put out sub-standard goods. Not at your marriage celebration.’

Mary stared at her mother. ‘I feel like I’ve stepped through the looking glass. Tom and I are in love. Papa is a cupcake wizard. What on earth will be next, I wonder?’

‘Well, if you and Tom keep sneaking back to the house at lunchtime, I shouldn’t wonder if the next thing might not be the pitter-patter of tiny feet,’ her mother said with a knowing wink.

‘Mama!’ Mary cried, feeling her face turn crimson, while her mother chuckled and turned back to her Bolognese.


	36. Chapter 36

‘I’ve heard back from Edith,’ Cora said, sipping at her soy latte. ‘She and Bertie won’t be able to make it to the party next week.’

Mary nodded, unsurprised, watching Sybbie play peek-a-boo with the baby at the table next to them. ‘Well, we expected that, didn’t we? She didn’t wish plagues of locusts on the event, did she?’

‘Of course, she didn’t. She said to tell you she hopes it goes well and we have a lovely time,’ Cora replied, giving Mary a look that left her in no doubt how unnecessary her mother thought that comment was.

‘Ah, well, that’s something. Progress of a kind, I suppose.’

‘Everything is coming together nicely. And I must say, Anna has been a diamond, a total godsend. She really knows her stuff, doesn’t she?’

‘That’s why we keep her on the payroll, Mama,’ Mary answered, toying with the last bit of her cake.

Sybbie waved goodbye to the family next to her as they got up to leave, taking her new playmate with them, and returned her attention to the remains of her own cake.

‘That baby was called Violet like Great Granny,’ she said, conversationally, spearing a bit of chocolate cake and stuffing it in her mouth. ‘Don’t you think that’s funny?’

‘Don’t speak with your mouth full, darling,’ Mary said, absently.

Sybbie swallowed before carrying on her conversation. ‘But don’t you think it is? Great Granny is so old, like, nearly a hundred or something, and that baby is almost brand new and they have the same name.’

Cora and Mary exchanged a swift amused look.

‘Don’t tell Great Granny Violet you think she’s nearly 100 years old, Sybbie, for heaven’s sake. She will not thank you for that,’ Cora said.

Sybbie paused, fork halfway to her mouth, and looked at her grandmother in surprise. ‘Why? How old is she?’

‘Let’s just say she’s not quite that old and leave it at that, shall we, poppet?’

Sybbie shrugged and shoved another bit of cake in her mouth.

‘Flower names seem to be all the rage again at the moment. The number of Lilys, Violets and Daisys there are popping up all over the place is ridiculous. Poppy too, that seems to be a favourite. I can’t think why. They always seem like old lady names to me,’ Mary said, idly.

‘I like names like that,’ Cora remarked. ‘They are so pretty. Timeless too.’

‘I suppose I shouldn’t have expected anything different from you, Mama,’ Mary said, sliding an impish grin over towards her mother. ‘Not when you gave your own three daughters old lady names.’

Cora shot her an indignant look, lightly smacking Mary’s arm. ‘I did not! I gave the three of you the most beautiful, traditional names I could think of at the time!’

‘Oh, Mama, Mary is a good, solid name, but beautiful it is not. It’s definitely more boring than beautiful. And don’t get me started on the horror that is Edith!’

‘Well, what name would you choose for a baby girl? Something outlandish to counter the boringness of Mary, I suppose.’

Sybbie’s face lit up with excitement. ‘Mummy, are you having a baby???’

Mary looked across at Sybbie, startled by the question as Cora chortled in delight. ‘No, darling, I’m not.’

‘Oh, are you sure?’

‘Quite sure, thank you.’

‘But you and Daddy could have a baby,’ Sybbie persisted, warming to her theme. ‘Poppy’s mummy had a baby after she got married. So did Jacob’s mummy. And Seth’s.’

‘I don’t think so, Sybbie.’

‘But why not? Lots of people have babies. Cara's mummy had one too. And Annabel's mummy had two! She's got baby brothers that are twins. They look exactly the same. Loads of people have had babies, so you could too. I’d like to have a baby sister.’

‘Well, it’s not something Daddy and I have talked about, so don’t get your hopes up.’

‘I suppose I wouldn’t mind a baby brother either,' Sybbie continued, as if Mary hadn't spoken, 'but I’d rather have a sister. I don’t really need another brother seeing as Georgie is sort of my brother now.’

‘Now, look what you’ve started!’ Mary hissed at her mother as Cora laughed gently, highly amused by the whole conversation and Mary's obvious discomfort.

‘But, Sybbie, if you have a baby sister, that means George will have two sisters. Don’t you think that’s a bit unfair on him to be outnumbered like that?’ Cora said, happily stirring the pot and blithely ignoring Mary’s aggrieved look.

Sybbie considered this. ‘Yes, I suppose that’s true, Granny. Maybe you should have two more babies, Mummy. A boy and a girl, then nobody’s outnumbered. Although I’d like it if you had the little girl first, so I can play with her.’

‘Right, I’ll bear that in mind,’ Mary muttered, picking up her phone and stuffing it in her handbag. ‘Are we just about ready to go, do you think?’

Sybbie looked up at her, utterly appalled. ‘But I’ve still got cake left, Mummy. You can’t leave cake! You have to eat it all.’

‘Well, hurry up then,’ Mary grumbled, slumping slightly back in her chair. ‘Less talking, more eating.’

Sybbie beamed at her and set about stabbing another bit of cake.

‘Mummy,’ she said, halting her fork before it disappeared inside her mouth. ‘Where do babies come from? I mean, how do you get them?’

Mary flushed, suddenly struck dumb, sending murderous glares at her mother as Cora tried to hide her mirth behind her napkin. ‘Er, well, that’s not really something we should talk about here, Sybbie.’

‘Why not?’

‘Because it isn’t.’

Sybbie swallowed her mouthful of cake. ‘But why not?’

‘Because I said so,’ Mary said, adamantly, resolving to change the subject. ‘Now, finish your cake, yes? The sooner you finish it, the sooner we can go and get some shoes to go with your new dress, all right?’

‘Oh, yes! Do you think I should get pink ones? Or maybe silver. Poppy’s got some lovely silver shoes she wears for parties. Or sparkly ones! Do you think they will have sparkly ones?’ Sybbie asked, eagerly.

‘We won’t know until we get to the shop, will we? And we won’t get to the shop if you don’t finish your cake, so eat up, Sybbie.’

Sybbie bent her head to finish up the last few bites of her cake. Mary glared at her mother, who was still looking mightily amused.

‘And you can stop laughing.’

Cora chuckled again. ‘Oh, that was just wonderful. I’ve rarely seen you look so flustered, Mary.’

Mary narrowed her eyes in displeasure. ‘I’m going to pay the bill.’

‘No, no, allow me,’ Cora said, reaching for her handbag. ‘It was worth it for the entertainment. You stay here and chat with Sybbie some more. She may have more questions for you.’

With that, she rose and floated gracefully towards the counter at the teashop. Mary watched her go and then glanced nervously at Sybbie, who was thankfully engrossed with making sure she’d eaten every last scrap of her cake.

Mary pulled her phone out of her bag and tapped out a message to Tom.

**_Don’t be surprised if Sybbie asks you about the birds and the bees when we get home._ **

Her phone buzzed with a reply almost immediately.

**_What???_ **

Mary smiled, seeing the gobsmacked look on Tom’s face in her mind’s eye as she typed out her reply.

**_Totally Mama’s fault. Blame her._ **

Another buzz.

**_What??? What have you been doing? I thought you were shopping for dresses and shoes and having cake. How has that led to Sybbie asking about the birds and the bees???_ **

Mary chuckled, feeling a little bit better now that her husband was going through the blind panic she’d experienced when Sybbie had asked her the question.

**_Will explain later. Hope you and George are having fun. Love you. Xxx_ **

Her phone buzzed again as her mother walked back towards their table.

**_We were having fun. Now I’m having a heart attack. Love you too. Xxx_ **

Mary snorted, biting back a giggle.

‘Are we all ready?’ Cora asked, looping her scarf around her neck.

Sybbie gulped down the last of her lemonade and beamed up at her grandmother. ‘Ready!’

‘Okay, then. Put your coat on and let’s go. Those shoes won’t buy themselves,’ Mary said, shoving her phone back into her bag.

‘Maybe we can find a handbag to go with your new shoes, too, eh, Sybbie?’ Cora said, holding her hand out to her granddaughter.

Sybbie’s eyes lit up as she slipped her hand into Cora’s. ‘Oh, do you think so, Granny?’

‘A lady always needs a handbag for her special bits and pieces at a party, so I would say it’s a must-have, wouldn't you?’

Sybbie beamed up at her then turned to Mary, taking her hand too. ‘What do you think, Mummy? Can I have a bag?’

Mary squeezed her hand, smiling down at her. ‘Let’s see what they’ve got, shall we? But I would say it’s a strong possibility.’

Sybbie skipped between them, chattering about what her new shoes and bag should look like, Mary and Cora exchanging fond looks over her head. Mary breathed a sigh of relief, relieved that they’d left the subject of babies behind them for now.


	37. Chapter 37

‘What a day,’ said Mary, perching on the end of the bed to pull her shoes off. ‘I don’t think there is a single dress or shoe shop we didn’t go into today. My feet feel like I’ve marched from here to Hadrian’s Wall and back.’

Tom tucked his bookmark into his book and laid it on the bedside cabinet, then patted his thighs. ‘Here, put your feet up here and I’ll rub them for you.’

Mary grinned at him and swung her legs up onto the bed, shuffling forward to land her feet in his lap. She propped herself up on her elbows watching as Tom began to massage the ball of her right foot. She dropped her head back with a groan.

‘Oh, my God. That feels good. Why have you never offered to do that before?’

He smiled at her, carrying on kneading his fingers into the muscles of her foot. ‘Perk of married life. It’d be a bit creepy for a brother-in-law to offer to massage his sister-in-law’s feet, wouldn’t it?’

‘I think I would have pushed past the creepiness, Tom, once I felt the benefits of your foot rubbing skills.’

‘Sybbie seems to have had a brilliant day. You and Cora really spoiled her.’

‘Well, I promised her a dress and shoes for the party, didn’t I? Mama got her the bag and the hairclips. Oh, and the nail varnish. You know how she loves to accessorise.’

‘She looked lovely in that dress. I’m impressed you managed to get her to take it off at all after she’d modelled it for me and Robert.’

‘I just told her she didn’t want to mess it up before the party because we might not be able to get it cleaned in time for her to wear it. She got changed out of it quick enough after that.’

‘So, are you going to fill me in on why you thought she might ask me about the birds and the bees?’

Mary narrowed her eyes at him. ‘Did she say something to you?’

‘No, not a thing. What happened?’

‘It was silly, really. There was a baby at the table next to us and Sybbie was making it laugh. Anyway, it turns out the child was called Violet, which amused Sybbie and set us talking about names. Mama made some stupid comment about what I would call a baby and Sybbie jumped on it, asking me if I was having a baby.’

Mary felt Tom’s hands pause for a moment before carrying on rubbing her foot.

‘I told her I wasn’t, and she started listing all the kids at school whose parents had had babies and asking if we were going to have one.’

‘And what did you say to that?’

‘I said we hadn’t discussed it. Then she asked for a baby sister.’

Tom huffed out a surprised laugh. ‘Did she?’

‘Yes. She was quite clear that she’d prefer a sister because George has filled the position of brother. But then with a bit of stirring from Mama, she declared we should have two babies, one of each, so the numbers would even out.’

Tom raised his eyebrows. ‘Well, she’s got it all sussed out, hasn’t she?’

‘And that’s not even the worst of it. She went on to quite calmly ask me where babies come from right there in the teashop while she was munching on her cake.’

Tom chuckled. ‘Ah, that’s the birds and the bees bit, then. And what did you say?’

‘I didn’t! I was not touching that with a bargepole! I was totally not prepared for that question and I was certainly not going to attempt to answer it in the middle of a teashop in York! And Mama was no help at all after dropping me right in it. She was too busy laughing like a hyena.’

Tom shot her a grin, putting down her right foot and picking up her left. ‘I can just imagine Cora finding the whole thing very amusing.’

‘Oh, yes, she was tickled pink by the whole thing, not least by how uncomfortable it made me.’

Tom looked at her thoughtfully. ‘So, do you want to talk about it?’

‘About Sybbie traumatising me in a teashop? Not really. I’ve told you most of it. That’s really why she got the expensive shoes she did, though. I was terrified she was going to start asking me awkward questions again,’ Mary said, taking a deep contented breath and letting out a satisfied little moan as Tom hit the right spot on the ball of her foot. ‘You are really good at this foot rub thing. I might make you do it every night.’

‘I didn’t mean talk about Sybbie and her birds and the bees question. I meant do you want to talk about children. About whether we should have any. Whether you even want any more children.’

‘Oh, right.’ Mary said, looking at him, tentatively. ‘Do _you_ want to talk about it?’

Tom hesitated. ‘I think we probably should, seeing as the subject has come up.’

‘Okay. Well, you go first. Do you want more kids?’ Mary asked, cautiously.

‘I’m… I’m not averse to the idea,’ Tom said, carefully. ‘What about you? I know you didn’t want a baby after Vegas.’

‘No, I didn’t, but things were different then. I mean, I know it was only a few weeks ago, but that was when we didn’t know anything about what was going on with us except for the fact that we’d inexplicably got married. I didn’t want to find myself suddenly pregnant by my brother-in-law after a drunken shag neither of us remembered.’

‘But that’s not the case now?’

‘Of course, it’s not. You’re not my brother-in-law any more. You’re my husband now, in my head and my heart, not just on a bit of paper we discovered in your jacket pocket. Having a baby with you now is a totally different proposition.’

‘And is that something you want?’

Mary smiled shyly at him. ‘Well, it’s not something I _don’t_ want. The prospect doesn’t scare me. I mean, I haven’t had time to give it much thought, so I can’t definitively say, yes, I’m ready to have a baby with you, but if it happened, I think I would be happy about it.’

Tom gazed steadily at her, an conflicted look on his face. ‘So would I. But I will confess that it does scare the crap out of me after what happened to Sybil.’

Mary pulled her foot out of his hand and crawled up the bed to sit next to him, putting her arms around him and tucking her head on his shoulder.

‘And that’s perfectly understandable. What happened to Sybil was awful, like something out of a bygone century. It shouldn’t have happened.’

‘But it did,’ Tom whispered, tipping his head to rest against hers. ‘And I don’t think I could bear it if it happened to you too. I can’t go through that again, Mary. It almost destroyed me last time. I only got through it because I had Sybbie to care for and because you and Matthew rallied around me.’

‘I know, my darling. I know. But it was a million to one occurrence. The odds of it happening again must be astronomical. Plus, I’ve already had a baby and I was fine. I yelled the bloody hospital down, but I was fine.’

‘I know, and that does make me feel better, but I’m still nervous about the whole thing.’

Mary pressed a kiss to his forehead. ‘Look, we don’t have to do this if you don’t want to.’

‘No, I‘m not saying that. I look at Sybbie and George and I think we’ve done a good job so far, despite everything we’ve both been through. We could definitely do it again with our own child. I’m just saying you might have to bear with me if you get pregnant because I may be a bit all over the place at times.’

Mary nodded. ‘Okay, I understand that. And if we decide to do this, we don’t have to do it straight away. We can take some time to get used to the idea if you want to.’

Tom looked at her with a small smile. ‘At the risk of you getting all huffy with me for saying it, we’re not getting any younger, Mary. If we’re going to do this, I don’t think we can put it off for long otherwise it might never happen.’

Mary thwacked him gently on his thigh. ‘Are you calling me old, you cheeky git?’

‘I wouldn’t dare,’ he said with a grin. ‘I’m just pointing out that however youthful we might like to think we look or feel, time waits for no-one when it comes to these things.’

‘So, you’re saying we should start trying now if we want a baby?' Mary asked, a pensive look on her face.

Tom met her gaze. ‘Maybe we don’t have to actively try if that’s too much right now. But maybe we just don’t do anything to stop it from happening. Kind of leave it in the lap of the gods.’

‘You mean I wasted my money buying that big box of condoms?’ Mary said, with a cheeky grin, stroking her hand down his chest.

‘I suppose that depends on whether you agree. If you don’t want to, we don’t have to,’ Tom said, catching her hand and looking at her seriously.

Mary nodded, gave him a quick kiss then leaned across him to open the drawer of his bedside cabinet. She fished out the box of condoms and sat up before lobbing it over towards the wastepaper bin next to her dressing table. Both of them watched as it hit the rim and bounced off, rolling onto the floor.

Tom chuckled. ‘I guess that’s my answer.’

‘Yep, that’s your answer,’ Mary said, taking hold of his face and turning it towards her. ‘Now, how do you feel about starting to not _not_ try right now? Personally, I think I need to check that your baby-making equipment is in good working order.’

‘Do you indeed?’ Tom grinned as Mary’s hand slid south again.

‘Uh huh,’ she said, hooking a leg over his body and reaching up for a kiss.

‘Well, I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to check,’ he agreed, sliding his arms around her and pulling her in close.


	38. Chapter 38

Mary peered over the balcony at the guests mingling in the Great Hall, pulling back before anyone saw her.

‘It looks like the crowds are gathering down there.’

Tom cast a quick glance down at the hall, nodding. ‘We should go down there.’

‘I suppose so,’ Mary said, unenthusiastically.

Tom stepped forward, wrapping his arms around her. ‘Come on, darlin’, it’ll be fine. We’ll do a little schmoozing, answer a boatload of intrusive questions, smile at loads of people and before you know it, it’ll be done with and we can relax.’

‘I know, I know. I’m just being a grumpy cow,’ Mary sighed, looping her arms around his waist. ‘I wouldn’t mind if they were all people we know and care about. It’s just there are so many people here for other reasons; to appease Papa’s small-minded acquaintances or Edith and her list of wedding guests. I don’t want to talk to those people about us and our relationship.’

Tom grinned at her. ‘Just tell them you’re madly in love with me and that’s all there is to it. That’s what I intend to do.’

‘You’re going to tell them all you’re madly in love with yourself?’ Mary teased, smiling back at him. ‘That’s a daring choice.’

He chuckled. ‘Well, I’m a catch. You’re lucky to have me.’

‘I am. I really am,’ Mary said, softly.

Tom dipped his head and kissed her tenderly. ‘I love you, Mary Crawley, and I will tell every single person down there just that whether I’ve known them for years or never clapped eyes on them before in my life. I don’t care who knows how I feel about you.’

Mary bit her lip, trying to stop her smile from splitting her face. ‘Not Mary Crawley. Mary _Branson._ I’m a bit concerned that my own husband can’t remember my new name.’

Tom leaned his forehead against hers. ‘Tell me it again.’

‘Mary Branson,’ she whispered, with a smile. ‘It should be easy for you to remember. It’s the same surname as yours.’

‘So it is,’ he said, claiming her lips for a kiss.

‘Ugh, why are you _always_ kissing?’ an exasperated voice came from behind them.

Mary and Tom pulled apart and turned to see George at the top of the stairs, a long-suffering look on his face.

Tom grinned at his step-son. ‘Because I like kissing Mummy and she likes kissing me. Give it ten years, George, and you’ll completely get it.’

George wrinkled his nose. ‘Yuck, I don’t think so. You never used to kiss all the time.’

‘Well, we weren’t married before. That’s why there wasn’t any kissing,’ Mary said, succinctly, nipping the conversation in the bud. ‘Did you want us for something, Georgie?’

Her son nodded. ‘Granny says are you coming downstairs? Nearly everyone is here, so she says the party has started.’

‘All right, darling. Run back downstairs and tell Granny we’ll be down in a minute.’

‘She said to tell you don’t make her come up here, so you’d better not start kissing again,’ George warned as he set off back down the stairs.

‘That’s told us!’ Tom chuckled, releasing Mary and taking her by the hand, lacing their fingers together. ‘Come on, then, let’s get this over with. You never know, it might be fun.’

‘I very much doubt that,’ Mary muttered, pasting a bright smile on her face.

They descended the wide staircase down to the Great Hall, only for people to stop and turn towards them as they became aware of their arrival. To Mary’s surprise and slight embarrassment, a ripple of applause spread through the room.

‘I feel like a turn at an end-of-the-pier show,’ Mary murmured in Tom’s ear, unsure how to react to the applause.

‘Just smile and wave, Mary, smile and wave,’ he replied under his breath, doing just that.

Mary smiled and waved at a few people, feeling decidedly awkward until her eyes fell on Carson, her father’s former private secretary, and his wife Elsie, standing under one of the arches in the hall, beaming at them. She went over to them, pulling Tom with her, acknowledging various people and their congratulations along the way.

‘Carson! Elsie! How lovely to see you! Thank you for coming,’ she said, embracing the old man and kissing him on his cheeks as Tom did the same to Elsie.

‘We wouldn’t have missed it for the world, milady,’ Carson said, smiling fondly at her.

‘Congratulations on your marriage,’ Elsie said, squeezing Tom’s hand. ‘We were that happy to hear about it, weren’t we, Charlie?’

‘We were. If a little surprised,’ Carson said, not beating about the bush. ‘I wasn’t aware you two were an item as they say these days. In fact, the thought had never crossed my mind that you might become a couple.’

Mary gave a wry laugh at that. ‘Well, you are in the minority there, Carson, for it seems most of the rest of the world saw it coming long before we did.’

‘And his lordship and her ladyship are pleased with the news?’ he enquired.

‘They were shocked at first because we hadn’t really made our relationship public knowledge, but I think they are happy, yes,’ Mary nodded. ‘Why do you ask? Did you think they wouldn’t be?’

Carson hesitated, glancing at his wife who shot him a warning look. ‘I did wonder if they would have reservations over your union given Mr Branson’s previous marriage.’

‘Charlie! Honestly, that is none of your business and I hardly think it appropriate to mention that to Tom and Mary at a party to celebrate their marriage,’ Elsie scolded, looking apologetically at the newly-weds. ‘Please excuse his poor manners. You know what an old stick-in-the-mud he can be.’

‘There’s nothing to forgive, I assure you,’ Mary said, graciously. ‘I have always held you in great esteem, Carson. You’ve always been my champion and I know you only ever speak out of concern for me, which I appreciate.’

Carson inclined his head, acknowledging her words. ‘That is true, milady, and I want you to know that I wish you and Mr Branson every happiness together.’

Tom watched the exchange with an amused smile, Elsie’s hand tucked into the crook of his elbow. ‘You two are so funny together. You’re so formal. You’re always Carson and milady to each other, never Charles and Mary.’

Carson looked shocked at the thought of not using Mary’s title. ‘Lady Mary has always been milady to me, ever since her father inherited the earldom. I wouldn’t dream of calling her just Mary. That would not be proper in the slightest.’

‘And Carson has always been Carson to me, Tom. From the moment I could talk,’ Mary said, putting her hand on Carson’s shoulder. ‘Although, I certainly would not object to such an old and dear family friend simply calling me Mary.’

‘I am honoured, milady, that you would think of me so,’ Carson replied, puffing up with pride and pinking up in the cheeks slightly.

Elsie sneaked a sideways glance at Tom, giving a slight roll of her eyes. ‘I don’t know about you, Tom, but however long I live amongst the English, I shall never get used to this class thing they get so wrapped up in.’

Tom chuckled. ‘I understand some things – having an earl as a father-in-law will do that – but I’ll never truly get it. I think you and I are too Celtic to appreciate the intricacies of it all, Elsie.’ 

‘And amen to that, son,’ she said, good-naturedly as her husband exclaimed ‘Elsie!’ in protest. ‘Ah, I think Lady Grantham wants you two over the other side of the room. Congratulations again. We are both genuinely happy for you. Oh, and I’ll pop by the office next week to talk about the Christmas decorations for when we open the house up again in December if that’s all right?’

‘That’s perfect. Just let us know when you’re thinking of coming in and we’ll make sure to be there,’ Tom said, pecking her on the cheek. ‘And thank you. We both appreciate your good wishes.’

Mary leaned in to press a kiss to Carson’s impeccably shaved cheek. ‘Thank you for coming, Carson. I hope I’ll get to speak to you at some point later in the party when Mama’s dragged us around all the dignitaries she’s invited.’

‘I shall look forward to it, milady. In the meantime, I think Elsie and I will inspect the buffet. Master George was telling us Mrs Patmore has done the honours, so I have high expectations.’

‘Please do before George clears the whole lot. That boy has hollow legs, especially when it comes to Mrs Patmore’s food,’ Mary smiled before slipping away, her new husband in tow.

* * *

Just over three hours later, Mary caught Tom’s eye across the room and flicked her head in the direction of the library. He nodded and began making his excuses to the people he was talking to.

Mary snaked her way through the clusters of guests, waving and smiling, muttering hellos and excuses for why she couldn’t stay and chat before disappearing into the library. Tom arrived thirty seconds later, shutting the door behind him.

Mary grabbed hold of his jacket, dragging him desperately towards her to plant a long kiss on him. ‘Oh, God, I needed that. It is exhausting making small talk with people you barely know. And some of the questions they think they’re entitled to ask! I felt like I might as well have been naked in there at times!’

‘I wouldn’t have minded if you had been naked,’ Tom said, appreciatively, kissing her neck. ‘It would definitely have livened up some on the conversations I’ve had this afternoon.’

‘Oi, lovebirds, you’re not alone in here, so you might want to cool it a bit,’ a Mancunian voice said from the depths of the sofa.

Mary pulled out of Tom’s arms and went to peer over the top of the sofa.

‘What are you doing hiding in here?’ she said, ruffling Thomas’ hair before skirting the sofa to drop down on the seat next to him.

‘Hey, mind the hair, it’s my crowning glory,’ Thomas said, smoothing his dark locks back into place. ‘If you must know, I’m having a breather. I’ve been playing hide and seek with George and Sybbie for the last hour and I’m knackered. Richard’s gone to get me a coffee and a slice of cake to perk me up.’

Tom sat down on the opposite sofa. ‘Have they been running you ragged? We told them not to monopolise you all afternoon and give you a chance to enjoy the party.’

‘Ah, they’re fine. I love playing with them and being cool Uncle Thomas. And they’re better company than most of the stuffed shirts Lady G has unearthed for this auspicious occasion. Who are half these people anyway? Friends of yours’

Mary sighed, shaking her head. ‘No, most of them are Papa’s friends and acquaintances, interspersed with people who will be at Edith’s wedding. There’s only a select few of our friends here; you and Richard, Anna and John, Isobel and Dickie, the Carsons, the Downton mummy mafia.’

‘Oh, I met some of the mummy mafia. I wouldn’t mind a night out with some of them,’ Thomas said, gleefully. ‘Although maybe not all of them. Do you know a couple of them were giving me the eye? Me! It’s been a long time since women gave me the glad eye. I mean, I know I’m drop-dead gorgeous and all, but I always assume that people know I’m gay. It always surprises me when they don’t see it straight away. You should have seen their faces when Richard came up and put his arm around me!’

‘Oh, Thomas, trust you to go breaking straight women’s hearts at an after-the-fact engagement party,’ Mary chuckled, wondering which ones of her mummy friends had been lusting after Thomas.

‘Well, I least I know you won’t be cheating on me with any of them,’ a broad Yorkshire voice came from the other end of the library as Richard came in carrying two cups of coffee with a plate and a muffin balanced on top of each of them.

Thomas shuddered, pulling a face as he took a coffee and cake from his lover. ‘No, no chance of that. Totally the wrong kind of bits for me. Tom’s the one you need to worry about, babe, after the stories Mary’s been telling me about his bedroom skills. He’s suddenly got, like, a million times more attractive. Plus, unlike some - no names mentioned - he takes his beloved to the Black Swan. That right there is a reason to get all smoochy with him.’

Richard rolled his eyes and cut an amused sideways look at a groaning Tom as he sat down next to him. ‘Seriously, mate, can you just take Thomas for dinner at the Black Swan? Maybe then he might stop yapping on about it every two minutes. Doesn’t even have to be dinner, lunch would do it.’

‘Hey, I don’t put out for anything less than dinner,’ Thomas said, affronted.

‘Lunch, it is then,’ Tom said, promptly, making Mary and Richard laugh.

Thomas pouted at him then took a bite of his cupcake.

‘Oh, my God,’ he moaned through a mouthful of crumbs, his eyelids fluttering. ‘This is amazing. Like a little bite of heaven. Mrs Patmore has excelled herself.’

Mary gave a little laugh, smiling at Thomas and his almost orgasmic delight in the cake. ‘Mrs Patmore didn’t make them. Papa did.’

Thomas choked on a bit of muffin before swallowing it down, staring at her with wide eyes. ‘Are you joking? Lord G made these?’

‘Yes, he’s taken up baking.’

‘He has not! You’re shitting me, right?’

‘Nope. It’s an Earl of Grantham original, that is.’

‘Bloody hell. Taste it, Richard, go on. It’s almost better than sex.’

‘I’d better up my game then if a cupcake can best me,’ Richard muttered before sinking his teeth into his own muffin. His eyes widened as he chewed it. ‘Oh, my God. You’re right. This is flipping amazing.’

‘Did he make them all?’ Thomas asked.

‘Yes.’

‘What flavours did he make?’

Mary’s forehead creased as she thought about it. ‘A Victoria sponge one, which is the one you’ve got. A chocolate orange one, a red velvet one, and… er… something else.’

‘A lemon one,’ Tom put in. ‘I had one of those. It was damn good.’

Thomas pursed his lips, looking thoughtful. ‘We need to talk to him about making cupcakes for the farm shop. Maybe even for the afternoon teas. We could run a campaign about His Lordship’s cakes.’

‘Are you serious?’ Mary said, startled. ‘Are they that good?’

Thomas reached over and broke off a piece of Richard’s muffin, earning himself a ‘Hey!’, as all three men nodded at the same time. ‘Here, open up,’ he said, stuffing the bit of sponge into Mary’s mouth. 

She chewed it, surprised by how light and delicate and flavoursome it was. ‘That’s actually quite delicious.’

‘I told you,’ Thomas said, smugly.

‘Nowhere near better than sex though,’ Mary concluded, winking at Tom, who grinned back at her.

‘Almost, I said! Almost better than sex!’ Thomas said, indignantly. ‘Just because you’re a nymphomaniac doesn’t give you the monopoly on awesome sex. We have toe-curling sex too! Tell her, babe!’

Richard sighed, looking over at Tom. ‘You see what I have to put up with?’

Tom chuckled, patting Richard on the shoulder. ‘You have my sympathies, mate.’

Thomas glared at them. ‘You two can shut up, too. Now, Mary, why didn’t you tell me your old man was a baking wizard?’

‘Because I didn’t know. He’s only started baking in the last few weeks.’

Thomas stared at her in disbelief. ‘He’s only been baking for a few weeks and he’s created those little clouds of deliciousness?’

'"Clouds of deliciousness”?’ Mary echoed. ‘I hope you’re not putting that in the brochure.’

‘I might,’ Thomas said, defensively. ‘It conjures up an image. Anyway, I need to talk to your dad. You need to get him to come to the office next week and we can talk about monetising his awesome baking skills.’

‘You’re not at work now, Thomas,’ Richard said, fondly. ‘You can have a day off.’

‘That’s why I’m not pouncing on Lord G right now,’ Thomas replied, shooting a look at Richard. ‘I have an exceptionally healthy work/life balance. But don’t forget to tell him I need to see him, Mary.’

‘I won’t. I suspect he will be tickled pink that you like his baking so much, although I’m not sure he’ll want the stress of baking for the estate.’

‘Well, if he doesn’t, maybe I can persuade him to keep me in cupcakes as a minimum. You won’t mind if I put on a couple of pounds, will you, Richard?’

‘No, light of my life, there’ll just be more of you to love, won’t there?’ Richard said, his eyes twinkling as he smiled at his boyfriend.

‘Exactly,’ said Thomas, smiling soppily back before turning his attention to Tom. ‘Right, Branson, so when are you taking me to the Black Swan for lunch?’

Tom groaned, listening to Mary and Richard chuckling. 'You don't give up, do you?'

'Ah, come on, you know you've always secretly wanted to go on a date with me.'

'I really haven't.'

'Take me to the Black Swan and I promise I won't talk about your knob wearing out again.'

Tom thought about that for two seconds before holding out his hand to Thomas. 'Deal.'

Thomas grinned like a Cheshire cat and shook Tom's hand.


	39. Chapter 39

Mary stood in her dressing room, gazing at the array of clothes hung neatly in her wardrobe and heaved a sigh.

‘How can I have all these clothes and nothing to wear? It’s ridiculous.’

Cora gave her a sideways look. ‘Mary, you have plenty of beautiful outfits to wear, but I did think you might buy a new one for your sister’s wedding.’

‘I’m trying to be more sustainable with my clothing, Mama.’

‘Sustainable?’

‘Yes, you know, not buy more clothes than is necessary. Re-wear and recycle. Anna has been educating me on the whole matter recently and she’s more or less shamed me into not buying a single stitch of clothing unless something else has completely worn out. She hardly ever buys anything these days.’

‘But isn’t Anna a rather talented seamstress? I’ve seen her in some fabulous outfits and whenever I ask her where she got them, she says she made them.’

Mary nodded, feeling a flare of pride in her friend’s skills. ‘Oh, yes, she’s amazing with a needle. Maybe I should have asked her to make me something for the wedding. But it’s too late for that now. I’ve only got six days left.’

‘Well, it’s not too late to nip into York or Harrogate and go to a boutique shop for a chic new outfit,’ Cora said, encouragingly. ‘I’m sure Anna wouldn’t begrudge you buying a new outfit for Edith’s wedding. After all, you don’t want to wear something people have seen before. Not to your sister’s wedding.’

‘But that’s the thing, Mama, I have countless outfits that most people haven’t seen before because I have so many and wear them so infrequently. No, I’ll choose something that I already have.’

‘I like this one, Mummy,’ Sybbie said, gently running a finger down a teal-coloured dress with white polka dots on it. ‘It’s such a pretty colour.’

‘It’s lovely, Sybbie, but Mummy can’t wear that one. It’s too similar to the colour I’m wearing,’ Cora said, firmly.

‘And you don’t want to look the same?’ Sybbie asked.

‘No, sweetheart.’

‘My dress is the same as Marigold’s.’

‘Yes, but that’s because you are bridesmaids and bridesmaids are supposed to wear the same dress,’ Cora explained as Mary continued to survey the rack of clothes.

‘Hmm, okay. What about this red one? I like that one too,’ Sybbie said, wandering down the rail to point at the red dress hanging there.

Mary looked at it, smiling. ‘I can’t wear that one either, Sybbie. I wore that when I married Daddy.’

Sybbie’s eyes went wide. ‘You wore a red dress to get married in?’

‘You know I did, sweetheart. You’ve seen the pictures Thomas took of me and Daddy at our wedding,’ Mary said, surprised at Sybbie’s reaction.

‘I have, but I didn’t think… well, I suppose I thought you had another dress to actually get married in. I thought wedding dresses had to be white! And long! That’s just a normal dress!’

Mary chuckled at Sybbie’s logic. ‘Most people do wear a dress that’s white or cream, but you don’t have to. But mostly I wore that because it's what I was wearing when Daddy asked me to marry him, and then we just went and got married without waiting. I didn’t have time to change into a different dress. Not that I had a wedding dress hanging about.’

‘That’s why we weren’t there, isn’t it? Because you didn’t wait.’ Sybbie said, a slight pout on her lips. ‘Granny Violet says you could get married again with all of us there, like a proper wedding. She said it was called a bletting or a bashing or something.’

Mary narrowed her eyes at her step-daughter, immediately on her guard. ‘A blessing.’

‘Yes! That’s it! A blessing!’ Sybbie beamed. ‘She said if you did that, I’d be able to be a bridesmaid.’

‘Did she, indeed? And when did she tell you all this?’ Mary said, her voice taking on a dangerous edge.

‘Yesterday at the party. Are you going to do that, Mummy? Have another wedding?’ Sybbie asked, hopefully.

Cora looked anxiously across at her daughter, sensing the anger simmering beneath the surface. Mary took a deep breath, gaining control of her emotions, even as she felt rage building that her grandmother was trying to use Sybbie to manipulate her into doing what she wanted.

‘No, darling, we’re not planning on doing that.’

Sybbie’s face crumpled with disappointment. ‘But don’t you want to have a proper wedding?’

‘Not particularly, no. I had a big white wedding when I married Uncle Matthew and your mummy and daddy had a white wedding too. I know you've seen those pictures. Daddy and I don’t need to do that.’

‘But I love weddings! And I didn’t get to go to yours,’ Sybbie said, sorrowfully, her bottom lip pouting out.

‘I know, poppet,’ Mary said, crouching in front of the little girl. ‘But you’ll be a bridesmaid for Aunt Edith in a few days. That will be fun, won’t it?’

Sybbie nodded, still looking a bit upset.

‘Look, why don’t we pick out some outfits for me to try on for Aunt Edith’s wedding, eh? You have such a good eye for a pretty dress, I need you to help me.’

Sybbie nodded again, looking happier, and turned to inspect the clothes on the rail behind her. Mary rose to her feet, giving her mother an angry, frustrated look over Sybbie’s head.

Cora shook her head, glancing meaningfully at Sybbie. Mary retreated to the other side of the room to stand by her mother.

‘Did you know about this?’ she whispered, crossly.

‘No, I didn’t. I mean, I know Mama is agitating for you to have a blessing. I didn’t know she’d roped Sybbie into her scheming. But you can’t blame the child for that.’

‘Oh, I don’t. I know exactly who’s to blame,’ Mary said, tightly. ‘How dare she use Sybbie like that.’

‘No, that was wrong of her,’ Cora agreed. ‘But you can’t be that surprised, Mary. You know what your grandmother is like when she sets her mind on something.’

‘I do, but that doesn’t make it right! She’s deliberately using Sybbie when she knows how I feel about a blessing. And she also knows that Sybbie would love to be a bridesmaid. Does she not care how upset Sybbie might be about me saying no to that?’

‘I suspect she was banking on that being a reason why you wouldn’t say no,’ Cora replied, shrewdly.

‘Then she’s miscalculated,’ Mary said, in a fierce whisper. ‘If that’s her play, she should have got Sybbie to mention it to Tom instead. He’s far more likely to crumble in the face of Sybbie’s disappointment or tears than I am.’

Cora chuckled, picturing the look of dismay on her son-in-law's face if Sybbie had cried all over him about being denied the chance to be a bridesmaid at a blessing. ‘That is true and it’s a mistake I’m surprised Mama made. Maybe she thought Tom would simply have referred Sybbie to you.’

‘He probably would have, but he might also have tried to persuade me to reconsider if Sybbie was upset about it. You know he’d do anything for her,’ Mary said, watching Sybbie pulling out the skirt of a purple dress and tilt her head consideringly.

Cora eyed her daughter thoughtfully. ‘And would you have reconsidered? If Tom asked you to.’

Mary hesitated. ‘Maybe. If I thought it was what he wanted.’

‘So you’re not completely averse to the idea of a blessing then?’

Mary gave her mother a sideways look. ‘Are you pushing for one too?’

‘No, not necessarily, but I’d be more than happy to celebrate your marriage to Tom, you know I would.’

‘Didn’t we do that yesterday with your party?’

‘After a fashion, I suppose. But we both know that party was less about you two and more about damage control. It wasn’t really a celebration of you and Tom.’

Mary nodded, pleased that her mother acknowledged the truth about the party.

‘You haven’t answered my question,’ Cora said, nudging Mary gently. ‘Are you completely averse to the idea of a blessing?’

Mary paused before answering. ‘I am if I’m manoeuvred or manipulated into it. You know how I hate that, Mama.’

‘But if you were left to your own devices?’

‘I don’t know. It’s early days yet with me and Tom.’

‘But you’re so happy together, Mary. Anyone can see that.’

Mary smiled. ‘We are. But we’re still discovering each other in so many ways even though we’ve known each other for so long. I don’t want to run before we can walk. I just want to enjoy how things are changing between us.’

‘Then I will do what I can to try to persuade Mama to back off and leave you be.’

‘Thank you, Mama. I appreciate that,’ Mary said, leaning in to kiss her mother on the cheek. ‘Now, I think we should probably go and help Sybbie, otherwise I could be going to Edith’s wedding in jeans and a T-shirt.’

‘Over my dead body,’ Cora huffed, good-naturedly. ‘And don’t forget you need an evening dress for the dinner the night before the wedding.’

‘Oh, don’t worry about that. I know exactly which evening dress I’m going to wear for that,’ Mary said, a mischievous smile spreading across her face.


	40. Chapter 40

‘Sybbie and George are both settled in with Marigold and her nanny,’ Tom said as he came back into the room Edith had allocated to him and Mary at Brancaster Castle, already dressed in black tie for the evening’s pre-wedding dinner party. ‘They seem hap- oh!’

Sitting at the dressing table, applying the finishing touches to her make-up, Mary looked up at him, watching him through the mirror, seeing him stop dead when he saw her. She added a final slick of lipstick then gave him a sultry smile, a satisfied thrill rushing through her at the awestruck look on his face.

‘Cat got your tongue?’ she asked him, coquettishly.

‘You… you’re wearing the blue dress,’ he said softly, unable to tear his eyes away from her.

‘Yes, I thought you’d appreciate it.’

‘Oh, I do, I… wow, I really do,’ he breathed, staring at her, taking in the way the dress accentuated her waist and the flare of her hips, how the low cut exposed the small of her back, skimming the swell of her bottom and hugging her curves as she sat on the stool.

He walked up behind her, reaching out a hand to trail his fingertips across the top of her back. ‘You look… you look amazing, stunning. It’s even better than I remembered and, believe me, I’ve thought about you in this dress a lot. An awful lot.’

Mary let out a breath as she felt his fingers on her skin, touching her lightly, the contact between them feeling tantalisingly intimate. She closed her eyes, savouring the sensuality of the moment before meeting his gaze in the mirror.

‘Do you remember what you said you’d do to me the next time I wore this dress?’ Mary asked, her voice low, intimate.

Tom tore his eyes from the milky skin of her back and met hers in the mirror. ‘I do. Everything little thing.’

‘Good, because I want you to do it. I want you to put your lips over every bit of skin you can. I want you to make me melt,’ Mary purred, never taking her eyes from his. ‘I reckon we’ve got about ten minutes before we have to be downstairs. I think we should make good use of every second.’

Tom licked his lips and smiled, stepping forward and sinking to his knees behind her. Mary let out a soft moan as she felt his fingers tracing patterns on her back. She closed her eyes, sighing with pleasure when his lips made contact with her skin.

‘You put your hair up,’ he murmured against the nape of her neck, his fingers moving slowly, teasingly over the skin exposed by the low back of the dress.

‘I wanted to give you as big a canvas to play with as possible,’ she sighed, revelling in the sensations his fingers and lips were creating as they swirled over her, making every nerve in her body sing.

‘That was very thoughtful of you,’ he breathed, making her shiver as he brushed his lips over her shoulder blade, his fingers dipping down to the scooped line of the dress at the small of her back.

Mary closed her eyes gripping the edge of the dressing table, trying her best to stay perfectly still as Tom covered every inch of the skin laid bare by the daring cut of the dress. His lips, his tongue, his fingers danced over her, sending delicious ripples of pleasure slip-sliding through her.

She trembled and shivered, feeling arousal uncoil low in her groin and lick out through her entire body as the delicious tension within her mounted. Every brush of his fingers, every press of his lips, every skim of his tongue seemed to sink into her skin, sending desire rolling through her, bringing her closer and closer to the edge.

‘Oh, my God, Tom,’ she said, her voice a shaky whisper as her breathing became more and more uneven. ‘Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea. All I want now is for you to take me to bed and finish what you’ve started.’

Tom trailed his tongue slowly up her spine, pulling a whimper from her. He pressed a line of kisses across the slope of her shoulder, nuzzling up the side of her neck, his fingers still skating over the delicate skin of her back, leaving a trail of goosebumps in their wake. He looked over her shoulder, gazing at her in the mirror, his eyes dark with desire. ‘And I will, darlin’, but not until we get back here after dinner. Just like we said.’

‘I’m not sure I can wait that long,’ she murmured uncertainly, lust licking through her like little sparks of electricity.

‘You can. But I want you to do something for me while we’re downstairs,’ he said, voice low and sexy.

‘Anything. If you asked me to let you make love to me on the dining room table right there in front of everyone, I think I might say yes right now.’

Tom chuckled low next to her ear, the sound setting off butterflies in her stomach. ‘Stay right next to me. I want to be able to touch you all evening. Keep you dancing on the edge.’

Mary moaned slightly at the thought of feeling like this for the next few hours, surrounded by people while his every touch set her body afire. 

‘Will you do that for me, love?’ Tom asked, softly, his tongue tracing the shell of her ear.

Mary shivered and nodded, trying to get her breathing under control.

‘Good girl. I’ll make it worth it when we get back here, I promise.’ Tom kissed her neck one last time and rose to his feet, holding out his hand to Mary. ‘We’d better join the party.’

Mary took a deep breath, centering herself before putting her hand in his and letting him lead her to the door.

‘Ready?’ he asked as they reached the top of the stairs.

‘Yes,’ she breathed, then put a hand out to stop him as he made to start down the stairs. ‘But there’s just one thing you need to know before we join everyone else.’

‘What’s that?’

Mary leaned in close, pressing her body against him to whisper in his ear, her words for him alone. ‘I’m not wearing any underwear.’

‘Oh, my God,’ Tom muttered under his breath, letting out a soft groan.

Mary smiled in triumph, knowing he’d be thinking about that all night. She took his hand and sashayed down the stairs, bringing him with her, bumping him gently with every swing of her hips.

For a few brief moments, she felt the balance of power tilt in her favour right up until his hand settled on the small of her back, the tips of his fingers slipping under the edge of her dress, caressing the soft skin just below her waist.

Sparks flew up her spine, his touch sending desire licking deliciously through every part of her body. Mary gave an involuntary shiver, half cursing herself for putting herself in this position and half relishing the game they were playing. She could hardly wait to get back to their bedroom but the next few hours were going to be interesting to say the least.


	41. Chapter 41

Mary took a deep breath, shoring up her resolve, before knocking on her sister’s bedroom door.

‘Come in,’ Edith’s voice wafted through the door. Mary opened it up and walked in.

Edith was sitting on the stool in front of her dressing table in a silken robe, keeping still as a beautician put the finishing touches to her bridal make-up. Her hair was elaborately styled with a sparkling tiara nestling among her carefully arranged tresses. Her two bridesmaids were sitting on the bed in matching silk robes, sipping on champagne flutes, their conversation halted by Mary’s unexpected appearance.

‘Mary,’ Edith said, her voice cool even though she was obviously surprised to see her sister. ‘I wasn’t expecting to see you before the ceremony.’

‘No, I know, but I was hoping to have a minute with you if that’s okay,’ Mary said, keeping her tone light and conciliatory, anxious not to undermine their fragile truce.

‘Er, well, I do have a timetable to keep to,’ Edith replied, transparently reluctant to grant Mary’s request.

‘It won’t take long. I won’t hold you up, I promise,’ Mary said, tamping down the spark of irritation flaring in her chest. ‘Please, Edith.’

‘All right, then,’ Edith agreed, rather ungraciously.

Mary looked at the other women in the room. ‘Could you give us a moment alone, please?’

The beautician and the bridesmaids all turned to Edith, seeking her approval. She nodded at them and the three of them retreated, leaving Mary and Edith alone.

Edith watched them go and then turned to Mary. ‘Well, you’ve got my attention. What do you want?’

‘I wanted to wish you well for today. I hope you and Bertie will be very happy together. And I wanted to give you this,’ Mary said, pulling her hand from behind her back and setting a small, gift-wrapped box on the dressing table by Edith.

Edith looked at it cautiously, almost as if she expected it to burst into flames if she touched it. ‘What’s this?’

‘It’s a gift. For you. It’s something you could use as your something old.’

Edith stared at the box then switched to looking suspiciously at Mary. ‘You’ve got me a gift?’

‘Yes. Please open it.’

Edith picked the box up gingerly, shaking it. ‘If it’s earrings, I’ve already chosen a pair to wear today from the Hexham collection.’

Mary sighed. ‘Edith, please. Just open it.’

Edith pulled churlishly at the ribbon and ripped off the paper, opening the small jewellery box in an off-handed manner. She stilled as she saw what was inside – a single earring, yellow diamonds forming petals around a polished ball of pure black Whitby jet.

Edith pressed her lips together, tears filling her eyes as she looked up at Mary.

‘Sybil’s earring,’ she whispered, blinking rapidly to hold back the tears.

Mary nodded, feeling tears prickling the back of her own eyes. ‘I had it converted to a pin. I thought perhaps you could pin it to your wedding dress, so you could feel like she’s sharing your day with you.’

Edith stared at her sister then looked skywards, her lips trembling, reaching up to put a finger under her lower eyelashes, willing back the tears.

‘And the other earring?’ she whispered.

‘I had that converted too, so I can wear it and keep her close.’

Edith looked down at the jewelled pin. ‘She loved sunflowers so much. They were her favourite.’

Mary nodded. ‘I know. Do you remember when we commissioned these for her 18th birthday? I think that is the only time you and I have completely agreed on anything.’

Edith nodded. ‘I remember her face when she opened them. She fell in love with them straight away. She wouldn’t take them off.’

‘I think those earrings were the best idea we ever had.’

Edith let out a shaky breath and reached out her hand. Mary took it, grasping her sister’s fingers.

‘Thank you,’ Edith said, softly. ‘Thank you. It’s the most perfect gift. And it’s a lovely idea for me to wear it today.’

Mary smiled gently. ‘You’re surprised I thought of it, aren’t you?’

Edith gave a small laugh, blinking back tears again. ‘Yes, I admit, I am rather. It’s such a sentimental thing to do and it’s… well, sentimental is not really a trait I associate with you.’

‘Because I’m a cold-hearted bitch,’ Mary offered with a wry smile.

Edith returned her smile, a little hesitantly. ‘Well, you do have your moments.’

‘I do, don’t I?’ Mary agreed, startling a small laugh from her sister. ‘I know you’ve been upset about recent events and you think I’ve forgotten about our darling sister, but I haven't. I loved Sybil, loved her to the very bottom of my soul.’

Edith met Mary’s eyes, a look of contrition on her face. ‘I know you did. And I’m sorry I said otherwise. I know that was a nasty thing to say. You loved her as much as I did. I think we can both safely say she was our favourite sister.’

Mary nodded. ‘She was the best of us.’

Edith let go of Mary’s hand and held up the box between them. ‘Does Tom know about this?’

‘Yes, of course, he does.’

‘And he doesn’t mind? He didn’t want to keep the earrings for Sybbie?’

‘No, when I asked him and told him why I wanted them, he gave them to me without any hesitation. He thinks it’s right for us to have them. He said he has plenty of other things of Sybil’s to give to Sybbie when she’s older, including her engagement and wedding rings.’

Edith was quiet for a moment before speaking again. ‘I was watching you and Tom last night at the dinner.’

Mary tensed, her spine stiffening as she waited for whatever Edith was going to say next, hoping her sister hadn’t somehow fathomed the game of sexual tension she and Tom had indulged in during the dinner party. She wanted to cross her fingers in a childish attempt at staving off bad news.

‘I saw how you are together. I tried to put it out of my head what you both are to me and look at you as just another couple.’

Mary waited as Edith paused, staying quiet until she couldn’t bear it anymore. ‘And did you manage to do that?’

Edith nodded slowly. ‘I rather think I did. I could see it. The connection between you. The way you’re always touching each other in some way. The way you search each other out when you’re not together. How you’re so in sync. You even finish each other’s sentences.’

Mary stayed silent, letting her sister talk.

‘I saw it, Mary. The way you melt when he touches you. How he is always there beside you, supporting you, you doing the same for him. The way you look at each other. And I realised something.’

‘What? What did you realise?’ Mary asked, apprehensive but curious too.

Edith tipped her head, looking consideringly at her sister. ‘I realised that this isn’t a new thing between you. Everything I saw last night, I’ve seen before. I just hadn’t put it together.’

Mary looked down at her fingers, twisting them together in her lap. ‘I love him, Edith. I think I’ve loved him for a long time, but I never put it together either until recently. It just sort of crept up on me. But the way I feel about him… it’s real. As real as it was with Matthew.’

‘I can see that now. And I can see that he feels the same about you.’

Mary looked up, meeting her sister’s gaze. ‘Does this mean you accept us? Me and Tom.’

Edith bit her lip, forgetting about her carefully applied lipstick. ‘Yes, I think I do. At least, I’m trying very hard to. I know I behaved badly when I found out about your marriage and when I saw you again at Downton. I reacted emotionally, but I’ve had time to think about it. And, like I say, I can see how it is between you now. I know it’s not just some kind of… I don’t know… some kind of experiment.’

Mary blew out a relieved breath, tension leaking out of her.

‘While we’re talking like this, there’s something else I should tell you.’

Edith looked at her apprehensively. ‘Oh, God, it’s nothing bad, is it?’

‘Not exactly, but it was something that surprised me and I think you should know about it.’

‘Go on, then. Hit me with it.’

‘Mama spoke to me the other week. She said when you and I are at odds with each other, it makes her and Papa feel like we’re trying to make them choose between us.’

‘Did she?’ Edith said, surprised. ‘I never meant to make them feel like that.’

‘Neither did I and I didn’t know they did until she said something. She said after losing Sybil, she can’t bear the thought of us not being able to be in the same room together. She said it breaks her heart.’

‘I don’t think-‘ Edith started then stopped abruptly.

‘What?’

‘I was going to say I don’t think we’ve ever been that bad, but I think maybe we have. Especially since Sybil hasn’t been there to be our buffer. Although, I do think Tom took over that role to a great extent.’ Edith paused, looking over at Mary with a raised eyebrow. ‘Now you’re married to him, I suspect he will side with you more than me from now on, though.’

Mary snorted at the very idea. ‘Oh, please. He’s not shy about putting me back in my box if he thinks I’m out of order. You have no idea the lengths he will go to to try to make me be a nicer person than I actually am, especially when it comes to you. No matter what you may think, he does not have me on a pedestal.’

Edith huffed out a laugh. ‘Good, because that would be terrible for you and your already formidable ego if he did.’

Mary looked at her sister. ‘So, what do you say? Can we try to be better to each other? For Mama and Papa? And for Sybil.’

Edith gazed at Mary, then nodded slowly. ‘Yes, I can certainly try. I can’t promise that we won’t have our ups and downs, but I can try.’

Mary reached out, squeezing Edith’s hand. ‘That’s all I ask. I promise I will try my best too.’

A knock on the door interrupted them. ‘Come in,’ Edith called.

Cora came into the room, looking surprised when she saw Mary sitting with Edith. ‘Oh, Mary, I didn’t know you were in here. Edith, you should be getting dressed now.’

‘Yes, I know, Mama. Can you ask my make-up artist to come back in?’ She glanced at Mary, giving her a quick smile. ‘I think she may have to do a quick repair job.’

‘I’ll leave you to it,’ Mary said, leaning forward to kiss her sister on the cheek. ‘Your hair looks beautiful. I can’t wait to see the full effect with your dress.’

Edith caught Mary’s hand as she stood, squeezing her fingers. ‘Thank you, Mary. For the pin. I shall treasure it.’

‘You’re welcome,’ Mary smiled, giving Edith’s hand a small shake. ‘I'd better go and get changed, otherwise I won’t be ready in time.’

‘Oh, don’t worry,’ Edith said, her eyes sparkling. ‘I have a feeling the bride may be fashionably late to her own wedding.’

Mary laughed and headed for the door. She stopped to kiss her mother on the cheek. ‘You look wonderful, Mama. Quite, quite beautiful.’

‘Thank you, darling,’ Cora said, looking curiously between her daughters, obviously wondering what had happened.

‘Edith may need your help with a pin on her wedding dress,’ Mary said, looking across at her sister. ‘Edith, you may have to ask your beautician to repair Mama’s make-up too after you show her the pin.’

Edith nodded as Cora looked confused. ‘What pin?’ she said. ‘What’s going on?’

‘Edith will explain, Mama. I will see you soon,’ Mary said, slipping out of the door. She left the room feeling lighter than she had for a long time. Perhaps this ceasefire with her sister could actually turn into a more permanent arrangement.


	42. Chapter 42

Edith glowed throughout the day. She glided up the aisle on the arm of her father as Lady Edith Crawley in a cloud of vintage lace and floated back down it on the arm of her besotted new husband as the Marchioness of Hexham.

She nodded at Mary as she passed her, throwing her a brilliant smile, Sybil’s sunflower sparkling on the bodice of her wedding dress. Standing next to his wife in the pew watching the bride and groom walk by followed by the bridesmaids and page boys, Tom squeezed Mary’s hand, leaning in close to murmur in her ear.

‘I’m so proud of you. That was a beautiful gesture.’

Mary smiled, turning her head towards him now her sister had moved on. ‘Was it beautiful enough to earn me a star or two?’

Tom grinned at her, replying in a low voice. ‘Mary Branson, you are a shameless hussy. Using a kind gesture to your sister on her wedding day for sexual gain. For shame.’

‘What can I say? I have needs. And I’m not so proud that I won’t take advantage of any opportunity I can to build up my bank of stars. So, what do you say? It must be good enough to earn me at least one star.’

Tom tipped his head, thinking about it, an amused gleam in his eye. ‘All right, I’ll give you some stars.’

Mary raised an eyebrow. ‘Some? Excellent. How many?’

‘I’m thinking a gesture like that, you’re looking at, ooh, ten stars.’

Mary’s eyes widened, her mouth dropping open in surprise. ‘Ten? Really? That’s far more generous than I thought you’d be.’

‘I like to keep you guessing, keep things fresh,’ Tom said, slipping his hand around her waist and skimming it over her hip.

Mary grinned lasciviously at him then schooled her face into a more demure smile as her parents halted in the aisle next to them.

‘Are you two coming out for the photos?’ her father said, gesturing for them to exit the pew.

‘Thank you, Papa,’ Mary said, stepping out next to her father. She tossed a look over her shoulder to see Tom follow her and offer his arm to her mother.

‘Mary, I wanted to say how wonderful I think it is that you gave Edith Sybil’s earring to wear today. I must confess it nearly undid me when I saw it and she told me the story,’ Robert said as they stepped outside the church into the bright autumn day. ‘I had to take a minute to compose myself.’

‘I’m sorry, Papa. Perhaps I should have warned you.’

‘No, no, I’m not complaining. I was hugely touched by it. I know things have been particularly unsettled between you and Edith lately, and I want you to know how proud I am of you for holding out the olive branch in such a thoughtful way, my darling girl.’

Mary gazed at her father, touched by his words. ‘Thank you, Papa.’

‘I know we’ve rather put you through the mill since you and Tom got back from Vegas and made your announcement. And I know you’re adjusting to your new life together, but the fact that you took the time to do this for your sister when she has not been at all kind to you, well, it fills my heart with gladness, it really does.’

‘Oh, Papa,’ Mary said, linking her arm with his and leaning in to brush a kiss on his cheek. ‘You really are a soppy old thing sometimes.’

‘Don’t let anyone hear you say that,’ Robert said, smiling. ‘It will ruin my reputation as the ferocious guardian of the Grantham earldom.’

Mary chuckled. ‘I think you’re confusing yourself with Granny there. You’re about as ferocious as a kitten.’

‘I am a lion, Mary, a lion of the British aristocracy,’ Robert said, trying to keep a straight face. ‘Hear me roar!’

‘Donk!’ Sybbie shouted, running up to her grandfather and thrusting her posey of flowers and her silk pouch bag into his hand. ‘Hold these for me while I play tag with George, will you, please? They’re getting in my way.’

‘All right, darling,’ he replied obediently.

Mary cast him an amused glance. ‘Yes, Papa, you are a lion. You are definitely a lion. A lion with flowers and a handbag.’

‘Oh, shut up,’ he muttered, elbowing her good-naturedly as Sybbie took off, her skirts flying. 'Raaaawrrrr!!!'  
  
  


* * *

‘Well, it was a beautiful service. The flower arrangements were absolutely gorgeous. Although it was unfortunate they seemed to bring out the hay fever in someone near the back of the church,’ Rosamund said, lifting a champagne flute from the tray of a passing waiter.

‘It’s rather bad manners to snuffle and sneeze through a wedding ceremony,’ Violet observed, leaning on her stick and waving away a tray of canapés. 

‘I hardly think you can accuse someone of bad manners because they happen to suffer from hay fever, Granny,’ Mary said, selecting a canapé, popping it in her mouth and devouring it. ‘It’s not like they can help it.’

‘Nonsense. A little foresight is all that’s needed. They have pills these days to control it and one can hardly be surprised to encounter floral arrangements at a wedding.’

‘That’s rather harsh, Mama,’ Cora said, before deciding to change the subject. ‘The children looked and behaved like angels. I was so proud of them all.’

‘That may be because I put the fear of God into our two beforehand,’ Mary said, with a broad smile. ‘I told George he could forget about any more football matches before Christmas if he misbehaved. And Sybbie knew she could kiss goodbye to her sparkly new shoes until next year if she put a foot out of line. Although, I confess I was more worried about him than her. At least Sybbie was excited about being a bridesmaid. I can’t say the same for George and his role as a page boy.’

‘Well, it certainly worked. And they looked as neat and tidy as two new pins,’ her grandmother put in. She cast a sly look at Mary. ‘Don’t you think Sybbie looked beautiful in her bridesmaid dress?’

Mary gave her a long, cool look. ‘She did, but don’t think that means I will give in and give her an occasion to wear another bridesmaid dress. I know your game, Granny, and I’m still cross with you for trying to use Sybbie like that.’

‘Oh, Mary, if I have taught you anything over the years it’s that you must use every weapon at your disposal when you’re fighting a campaign,’ Violet said, meeting her granddaughter’s look without contrition or regret. ‘I’ll be disappointed if that is a lesson you have not yet absorbed.’

‘Really, Mama, give it up. Mary neither wants nor needs a blessing,’ Rosamund said, rolling her eyes. ‘You harassing and haranguing her will not change her mind. She’s far too much like you for that to work. And that is a lesson you should have absorbed by now.’

Mary chuckled as her grandmother glared at Rosamund, but then narrowed her eyes as she spotted something across the room.

‘Do any of you know who that woman is talking to Tom?’ she asked as she craned her neck to look at the woman currently standing with her hand on Tom’s arm, her head thrown back as she laughed uproariously.

Violet peered at the woman with Tom. ‘Oh, yes, I believe that is Maud’s daughter.’

‘Maud? Who’s Maud?’ Mary said, frowning at the woman’s familiarity with her husband.

‘Maud Bagshawe. You know, your father’s cousin, Maud. She’s the one who bypassed your father and denied him his rightful inheritance in favour of her new-found daughter,’ Violet sniffed.

Mary looked at her curiously. ‘What are you talking about? What inheritance? And why shouldn’t her daughter be her beneficiary?’

Rosamund glanced at her mother’s pinched face before filling Mary in on the gossip. ‘Darling, don’t you know? Lucy was born on the wrong side of the blanket as they used to say. It would have been quite the scandal back in the day, but Maud hushed it up. She’s only just acknowledged her, but she’s leaving her the whole of her family’s estate.’

‘Which by rights should have been Robert’s,’ Violet insisted, looking most put out.

‘Perhaps if we were living in the 19th century, Mama,’ Rosamund said in the exasperated tone of a woman who had had this conversation a hundred times before. ‘But we’re not, thank God. Maud can leave her estate to whomever she wants and that’s exactly what she’s doing. You can’t say Lucy isn’t a closer relative than Robert.’

Violet made a disgusted noise. ‘It’s quite improper, not to mention dangerously short-sighted and completely irresponsible, handing the estate to a young chit of a thing who hasn’t been brought up to handle it.’

‘Well, I don’t much care about Maud’s estate, but I do care about that young chit of a thing putting her hands on my husband,’ Mary said, narrowing her eyes at where Lucy’s hand still rested on Tom’s arm. ‘Will you excuse me?’

With that, she took off, twisting through the knots of wedding guests until she reached Tom. She plastered herself against his side, looping her arm around his neck and kissing him firmly on the lips when he turned his face to her in surprise, his hand coming up to settle on her hip.

‘There you are, darling,’ she purred before turning her head to look Lucy squarely in the eyes. ‘Hello. I’m Mary, Tom’s wife.’

Lucy gave her a nervous smile. ‘I know who you are. I’m Lucy. Maud’s daughter. I believe that makes us some kind of distant cousins.’

‘Very probably. I never can keep track of all the various relatives we have,’ Mary said, dismissively.

Lucy flicked her eyes back to Tom and Mary bristled, feeling hugely proprietorial. Tom obviously felt her reaction too because he rubbed his fingers gently on her hip, calming her down.

‘Right, well, I’d better go and find my mother. I promised to bring her some more champagne,’ Lucy said, taking a step backwards. ‘It was lovely to meet you, Tom.’

‘You too, Lucy. Enjoy the rest of the wedding,’ Tom said with a smile. Mary bristled some more.

‘Mary,’ Lucy nodded at her before turning tail and disappearing across the room.

Tom turned his head to look at Mary, who was still draping herself over him.

‘I feel like you might as well have come over here and peed a circle around me,’ he said, his eyes alive with amusement.

‘She was all over you!’ Mary said, indignantly.

‘No, she wasn’t. We were just talking.’

‘She was touching you! And flirt laughing.’

‘Flirt laughing?’

‘Yes, I’m sure whatever you said was not half as funny as she made out. She was flirting with you by making out you’re funnier than you actually are,’ Mary said, still put out.

Tom tried to look affronted. ‘Are you saying I’m not funny?’

Mary gave him a look. ‘My darling, you have many, many talents, but a comedian you are not.’

‘So, the flirt laughing – which I totally missed, by the way – is what brought you haring over here, is it?’

‘It was more the touching, to be fair, but I could see her game. She was brazen too. I mean, you’re wearing a wedding ring for God’s sake!’

‘You were jealous,’ Tom said, grinning.

‘I was not. I was simply marking her card.’

‘Marking your territory, more like.’

‘Well, she had her hands on my man. I am not standing for that.’

‘Why do I get feeling that this is exactly what you would have liked to do when you saw me with my ex-girlfriends?’ Tom said, with a knowing smile.

Mary put her nose in the air, aiming for insouciance. ‘Perhaps. But I didn’t have the right then. Now, I do.’

Tom tightened his arm around her waist, pulling her tighter against him. ‘I like that you’re jealous, but you should know by now that I only have eyes for you. No-one else even comes close.’

‘Good. That’s exactly the right answer,’ Mary said, laying her hand on his chest. ‘Is there any chance, do you think, that we can get out of here for an hour or so so that you can make it up to me for letting another woman flirt with you?’

Tom chuckled. ‘Sadly not. But I promise I will make it up to you later.’

Mary stared at him, pressing herself tighter against him, feeling the passion building between them. ‘I will hold you to that.’

‘I pray that you will,’ Tom replied, heat flaring in his eyes. ‘Now, you’d better let go of me before we start something we can’t finish.’

Mary leaned forward and kissed him. ‘You’re mine, Tom Branson. Don’t you ever forget that.’

‘Never,’ he whispered, kissing her back.


	43. Chapter 43

Anna scribbled a final note then ended her call with a promise to get back to the enquirer with available dates and details of their wedding packages. She hung up and swivelled her chair to look at Mary.

‘Right, now that’s done, I can devote all my attention to you. So, come on then, how was the wedding? We want to know everything, don’t we, Thomas?’

‘Well, I want to know any juicy gossip, but I guess you want to know all about the dress and whatnot too, don’t you?’ Thomas said from his perch on the radiator under the window. ‘You know, I’m not sure my arse is ever going to warm up. It’s bloody cold out there. I might have to shift from the bike to my car soon.’

Anna rolled her eyes, ignoring his segue from Lady Edith’s wedding to the current state of his backside. ‘Come on, Mary, give us the goods. What was the dress like? Have you got any pictures?’

Mary frowned, thinking about that. ‘Do you know, I don’t think I do. Tom might have. I think he took some of Sybbie with Edith, so, yes, he’ll definitely have some pictures. Ask him when he brings the drinks in.’

‘Okay, I will. But you can describe it to me, can’t you?’

‘It was lacy and floaty and very Edith. Not my cup of tea at all, but I will admit she looked lovely in it.’

‘You’ve surely got more to say about it than that. It’s your sister’s wedding dress!’ Anna said, surprised at the brevity of Mary’s response.

‘Not really. It was nice. You know, just… well, nice.’

‘I hope that’s not how you described my wedding dress,’ Anna grumbled, disappointed at the lack of details.

Mary shook her head. ‘Oh, no. Your wedding dress was fabulous. Flirty and fun and quirky. Unique. Vintage in a perfectly you way.’

Anna beamed at her friend. ‘Well, thank you! It was the hardest dress ever to make just because it was so special, so I appreciate all of that.’

‘Edith’s dress was very bridal, just in a completely generic way. Mass-produced romance for all that it probably cost a fortune. Like I say, she did look lovely, it’s just that you’ve probably seen a hundred other brides wear a dress just like it.’

‘Blimey, if that’s not damning with faint praise, I don’t know what is,’ Thomas snickered. ‘I hope to God you didn’t say any of that to Edith.’

Mary gave him a reproving look. ‘Of course, I didn’t. I’m not an idiot. I told her she looked ethereally beautiful like a good sister should. I actually managed to mend some bridges with Edith this weekend. I think we might have turned a corner.’

‘Really? I thought you two were mortal enemies at the moment,’ said Thomas, suddenly looking much more interested. ‘Last I heard, she was more likely to scream at you and throw something heavy at your head than enter into peace negotiations. What’s prompted this about-turn?’

Mary lifted her head and gazed steadily at him. ‘I did something nice.’

Thomas clutched at his chest dramatically. ‘Did you hear that, Anna? I swear our Mary said she did something nice for Edith. I can’t have heard that right. I didn’t see any pigs floating about in the sky when I came in this morning.’

Mary rolled her eyes. ‘All right. Nobody likes a smartarse.’

Anna waved a dismissive hand at Thomas. ‘Ignore him, Mary. Tell me instead. What did you do for Edith?’

‘I had one of Sybil’s favourite earrings converted into a pin so she could wear it on her wedding day as a memento.’

This time it was Anna putting her hand over her heart, looking at Mary with fond pride. ‘Oh, Mary. What a lovely thing to do. She must have appreciated that so much.’

Mary nodded. ‘She did. We had a moment and we agreed to try to be nicer to each other.’

‘Good. I’m glad,’ Anna said, nodding approvingly.

‘Does this mean she’s not going to stomp in here screeching about you and Tom again then?’ Thomas asked, not looking entirely convinced that the truce between the Crawley sisters would hold. ‘Not that I object to the entertainment value that brings.’

‘She says she’s trying her best to accept our relationship. She actually said she can see the connection between us now.’

‘Ooo, I might claim credit for that then. Is it because she saw the masterly job I did on your wedding pictures and video?’ Thomas said, grinning and looking smug.

‘Well, she probably did see them, but she never mentioned them. It was more to do with her seeing us together and how in love we look.’

‘Yeah, but even you two didn’t know you were in love until you saw those pictures and the hugely romantic video of your swoony kiss at the altar. I mean, I’ve practically played Cupid for the pair of you. You wouldn’t be where you are now if I’d left you to your own devices, you poor oblivious fools.’

Anna frowned over at Thomas. ‘What are you talking about? They knew they were in love in Vegas. That’s why they got married. And you knew nothing about them being in a relationship.’

Thomas froze, then looked over at Mary, a guilty look on his face. ‘Oops.’

‘What do you mean ‘oops’?’ Anna said in confusion looking between Thomas’ guilty face and Mary’s cross face. ‘What’s going on?’

Mary stood up, rounding the edge of her desk and heading for Thomas’ workstation. ‘You had to open your big mouth, didn’t you? Well, you know what the consequence is.’

Thomas’ eyes widened as he remembered his pledged forfeit if he broke his promise to keep the truth about the start of Mary and Tom’s relationship secret. He sprang to his feet, making for his desk. ‘No, you wouldn’t.’

‘Wouldn’t I?’ Mary said, aiming an evil smile at him.

Thomas lunged for his desk just as Mary got there. She plucked the autographed picture of Kylie Minogue off the desk divider, whipping it away from Thomas’ outstretched fingers.

‘Say goodbye to Kylie,’ she said, snatching his lighter off his desk and flicking it open.

‘Nooooooo!’ Thomas shrieked. ‘Please! Don’t, Mary! I’m sorry!’

Suddenly the room was filled with noise, all three of them speaking at once.

‘What’s going on? Mary, what are you doing? Thomas, stop shrieking!’ Anna cried.

‘Don’t, Mary! Don’t! I’m begging you! Please don’t burn my Kylie! I’m sorry! Please don’t be an utter bitch about this! I didn’t mean to!’ Thomas begged, his voice getting higher and louder.

‘You promised, Thomas, but you couldn’t keep your big mouth shut, could you? And this is your penance. And it’s one you suggested yourself, so you’ve got no-one else to blame! Sayonara, Kylie!’ Mary yelled over his histrionics, waving the lighter dangerously close to Thomas’ prized personally signed and dedicated-just-to-him photo.

A piercing whistle stopped them all in their tracks and all three of them turned to see Tom standing in the doorway, a tray full of mugs precariously balanced in one hand, the thumb and index finger of his other hand in his mouth as his whistle still echoed through the office.

‘What the bloody hell is going on in here?’ he said into the sudden silence, taking hold of the tray with both hands again before he dropped it. ‘Have you all lost the plot?’

They all started talking at him at once, just a jumble of words with all meaning lost until he yelled at them.

‘Stop! Shut up, all of you! One at a time, please. Anna, you look the least heated out of you all. You go first.’

Anna blinked at him. ‘Well, I’m not really sure I know what’s going on. Thomas said something about playing Cupid for you and Mary and then Mary went mental and said she was going to burn Thomas’ Kylie picture and Thomas lost it.’

Tom’s eyes shifted to Mary, registering the photo she held in one hand and the lighter in the other.

‘Oh. Right. I see.’

‘Well, that’s more than I do,’ Anna muttered. ‘I literally have no idea what just happened.’

‘Thomas, you said something you shouldn’t have,’ Tom said, suddenly understanding what must have happened to set this commotion off.

Thomas nodded, looking both guilty and defensive. ‘I did, but it was an accident, and I didn’t mean to. And Anna doesn’t even know what I meant and Mary… Mary’s just being a cow now.’

‘I am not!’ Mary cried, her temper spiking again.

‘You are! You’re being a vicious, vindictive cow!’ Thomas yelped, angrily. ‘Because it doesn’t even matter now, does it?’

‘You made a promise and you broke it! Now you have to pay the price,’ Mary said, moving the lighter towards the picture again. Thomas lunged for it and she spun out of reach, the movement winking out the flame.

‘Mary!’ Tom called.

‘What?’

‘Give him the photo.’

‘No!’

‘Give him the photo!’

‘I will not!’ she said, wilfully, flicking the lighter on again.

Thomas made a distressed noise as the flame got closer to the photo.

‘I’ll give you three stars if you give him back his precious bloody photo unsinged!’ Tom cried out, a hint of desperation in his voice.

Mary stopped and looked over at him, a calculated gleam lighting up her eyes. ‘Five.’

Tom sighed. ‘Deal.’

Mary flicked the lighter shut and dropped it on the desk. She leaned over the desk separating her from Thomas and held the photo out to him. Thomas snatched it from her, cradling it against his chest, sighing in relief.

‘Thank you,’ he said, in a shaky voice. ‘And I’m sorry. I am.’

Mary snorted out a disbelieving noise and went back to her desk.

Tom blew out a breath, relieved at averting a crisis, and set about handing out the mugs.

Anna took hers and looked around at the three of them. ‘Is anyone going to tell me what the hell just happened?’

Thomas paused in the middle of pinning Kylie back in her usual spot and shot a look over at Mary, who glared back at him over her coffee cup.

‘I can’t tell you,’ he said. 'I promised not to.'

‘What? You can’t just say that after all of this kerfuffle,’ Anna said, in disbelief. ‘You can’t leave me hanging. Besides, the three of you obviously know what this is about, so you might as well tell me.’

Tom watched Mary glare at a contrite Thomas and sighed. ‘I’ll tell you.’

Mary shot him a look of surprise. Tom met her gaze defiantly.

‘Well, Thomas is right. It doesn’t really matter anymore now Edith’s wedding is over. And Anna kept our secret about the ceremony, didn’t she?’

Mary huffed out a sigh. ‘All right. Go on, then.’

Tom turned back to Anna to lay it all out for her. ‘Mary and I weren’t in a relationship when we got married. We hadn’t been seeing each other for six months like we told you. Thomas found out we were lying and helped us convince everyone of the lie we’d concocted because Cora and Robert were worried we’d overshadow Edith’s wedding.’

Anna stared at him. ‘You’re… you’re joking, right?’

‘No, every word of that is the truth,’ Mary said, taking a swig of her coffee. ‘Thomas promised he wouldn’t say anything to anyone, including you and Richard. And then he did.’

‘I’m sorry,’ said Thomas again. ‘I really didn’t mean to.’

‘So, you’re not really together then? It’s all a lie?’ Anna said, looking back and forth between Mary and Tom.

‘No, we’re together now,’ Mary said, giving Tom a blinding smile. ‘But it’s happened since Vegas rather than before Vegas.’

Anna let out a groan. ‘This is so confusing. You’re saying you weren’t together when you got married, but now you’re in love with each other?’

‘Yes, that’s about the size of it,’ Tom said, smiling at her as if he was proud of her for putting it all together.

‘And why is Thomas claiming he played Cupid?’

‘Because he’s been overly invested in us getting together and thinks his pictures and video tipped the balance,’ Mary said, narrowing her eyes at Thomas. ‘Like we couldn’t have figured it out by ourselves.’

‘Well, Tom might have, but you hadn’t,’ Thomas replied, indignantly. ‘Those pics certainly gave you a little shove in the right direction. And I’ve been your agony uncle. I’ve been rooting for you two since the day I found out the truth, so you don’t have to be so mean.’

Mary stared at him, looking like she was about to retort before visibly softening. ‘All right, yes. You’ve been a good friend. I’m sorry for getting cross with you.’

‘And for nearly burning Kylie?’

‘And for nearly burning Kylie.’

Tom grinned fondly at the pair of them. ‘Ah, peace at last!’

‘I have a question,’ Anna said, looking at the newly-weds curiously. ‘Why did you get married if you weren’t seeing each other?’

‘Ah, well, Tom was secretly in love with me and the considerable amount of booze we drank that night gave him enough Dutch courage to go straight for the endgame,’ Mary said, gleefully, beaming at her husband.

‘And it took all that booze for Mary to subconsciously realise she fancied the arse off me too and that’s why she said yes,’ Tom said, batting it right back to Mary.

Thomas and Anna stared at them, wide-eyed.

‘I didn’t know that bit,’ Thomas said. ‘’But I do have a question of my own.’

‘Go on, then. Ask it,’ Mary said, feeling benevolent now it was all out in the open.

‘What’s this about stars? Why did Tom offering you stars make you capitulate on the Kylie front?’

Anna and Thomas watched in amusement as Mary went pink and bit her lip while Tom cleared his throat and began shuffling papers on his desk, turning his flushed face away from them.

‘Mary? Tom? Either of you care to answer?’ Thomas enquired.

‘Nothing. It’s nothing,’ Mary muttered, dipping her head to study something fascinating in her coffee mug.

Thomas grinned, looking between them with growing delight. ‘It’s some kinky sex thing, isn’t it?’

‘It’s none of your business, is what it is,’ Mary said, primly.

Thomas cackled gleefully. ‘Well, Tom, I would say thank you for taking one for the team, but I suspect it won’t be too much of a hardship for you.’

Tom looked over at him, a small smile playing on his lips. ‘The things I do for friendship and a quiet, harmonious life in the office.’

‘Oi!’ said Mary, balling up a sheet of paper and throwing it at her beloved’s head. ‘I heard that.’

Tom grinned and blew her a kiss. ‘Right, play time’s over, kids. Back to work.’

Mary stuck her tongue out at him then picked up her phone.

 **_You. Me. Lunchtime._ ** **_Two stars._ **

Tom picked up his phone as it buzzed, thumbing open the message. She saw him smirk and glance over at her. She smiled at him, innocent as a lamb. Her phone buzzed a few seconds later.

 **_You’re in luck. Special_** ** _offer on_** ** _eating out_** ** _at lunchtime today_** ** _. No_ ** **_stars necessary._**

Mary let out a surprised giggle, glancing at Tom through her eyelashes. He looked back with a grin and a wink.

‘Oi, lovebirds. Enough with the sexting. Some of us are trying to work,’ Thomas said, fixing them with a stern glare. ‘Save it for later.’

Mary turned to her laptop, checking the time and wondering how soon she could reasonably suggest breaking for lunch.


	44. Chapter 44

It took Mary far longer than it should have to put the clues together.

Sybbie’s obsession with weddings, she took as a consequence of her stint as a bridesmaid at Edith’s wedding. The fact that it lasted for weeks, moving into months, Mary put down to being a little girl’s fascination with all things bridal, although it surprised her that Sybbie’s interest hadn’t waned.

The increase in enquiries to the estate for blessings, she put down to Thomas’ clever marketing campaigns and the initial social media interest spiked by the announcement of her marriage to Tom. The oddest thing about the whole affair was that many of the enquiries arrived by snail mail rather than email or the contact form on their website.

But then other things began cropping up. On several occasions when they took the children to eat at The Stirred Pot, Mrs Patmore popped out of the kitchen to make conversation with them, often culminating in assurances that she was available to cater for larger events should the need arise. Mary nodded and smiled and said she was sure The Stirred Pot was still on the roster of approved suppliers held by the estate office. Each time, Mrs Patmore had looked at her as if she’d failed to make a satisfactory response.

Several firms that provided marquees for events sent their brochures to her at the estate office. Mary frowned when she opened her post then simply passed them on to Anna, assuming she’d asked for them. For the most part, Anna was as perplexed as Mary, especially as several of the companies were already on their books.

As the weeks went by, it seemed that whenever Mary checked her email, she would find a handful of marketing emails from local wedding dress boutiques, wedding photographers and cake suppliers, which was odd as she hadn’t subscribed to them. That she put down to algorithms picking up on her occasional clicks onto the odd wedding site as part of her work with the estate. 

But then bridal magazines began to appear wherever she went. At her hairdresser’s, the young girl making her coffee brought her a selection of bridal magazine, looking confused when Mary glanced at the cover and politely refused them, instead pulling her trusty Kindle out of her bag. When she took George and Sybbie to the local dentist, the receptionist made a point of mentioning their stash of magazines for waiting parents to read, which included an inordinate amount of wedding titles. It wasn’t until several bridal publications appeared on the kitchen table that Mary’s spidey senses really began to tingle.

‘Mama, why are you buying bridal magazines?’ Mary said, lifting the pile and shoving them onto the dresser.

‘Buying what, darling?’ Cora said, distracted as she peered into the oven, checking her latest culinary creation.

‘Bridal magazines. There’s a whole pile of them over there,’ Mary said, gesturing at said pile.

‘They’re not mine,’ Cora said, closing up the over door. ‘Perhaps Edith left them here before she got married.’

Mary frowned. ‘Well, that makes absolutely no sense. Edith got married months ago. Why would they appear in the kitchen now?’

‘I have no idea. Maybe Sybbie put them there. You know how fascinated she’s become with weddings. I know she was making scrapbooks with bridal pictures in them. Perhaps she’d been cutting them up.’

Mary wandered back to the pile and picked up the magazine on the top. ‘This one is dated this month. Sybbie’s not buying wedding magazines, is she? Surely not. Look at the price of this. She’d be using all her pocket money. And how would she even manage to buy them without any of us knowing?’

‘I don’t know, Mary, maybe we can ask her while we’re eating. Until then, though, can you come here and give me a hand with this, please?’

Mary dropped the magazine and went to help her mother.

* * *

Dinner that evening was a true family affair, with the Dowager joining them to eat. Halfway through the meal, Mary remembered to ask Sybbie about the magazines.

‘Sybbie, did you leave a pile of wedding magazines in the kitchen earlier?’

Sybbie stilled, her eyes glued to her plate. ‘Er, I might have.’

‘Were you using them for your scrapbooks?’

‘No, not yet.’

Mary fixed her step-daughter with a careful look. ‘They were new magazines. Have you been spending your pocket money on them?’

Sybbie flicked a quick glance up at her then stared back down at her plate, fidgeting on her chair.

Tom looked at his daughter in surprise. ‘You’re using your pocket money to buy wedding magazines?’

Sybbie squirmed under the attention, refusing to look at her parents. She did, however, shoot a furtive glance at her great-grandmother, something Mary did not miss. She narrowed her eyes, glancing suspiciously at the Dowager before focusing her attention once more on the guilty-looking little girl in front of her.

‘Sybbie. Have you been buying those magazines?’

Sybbie said nothing, but Mary saw her grip her cutlery tighter.

‘Or perhaps someone has been buying them for you,’ she said, the pieces slotting into place in her mind. She looked down the table directly at another member of the family. ‘Granny?’

The Dowager lifted her head and met Mary’s gaze. ‘All right, yes, I bought the magazines and gave them to Sybbie.’

‘Hmm, I suspected as much. Did you also tell her to put them where I’d find them?’ Mary asked, coolly.

‘Well, you haven’t been paying attention to any of the other magazines I’ve been trying to put in front of you, even when my minions have been handing them directly to you,’ Violet said, calmly, realising the game was up.

George stared at her wide-eyed and open-mouthed. ‘You’ve got Minions, Granny Violet? Cooooooool!’

‘Don’t get too excited, George,’ Mary said, glaring at her grandmother. ‘They’re not the cute, yellow kind. Although they do work for a master villain.’

‘Really, Mary, that’s quite uncalled for,’ Violet responded, taking a sip of her wine.

Robert looked between his mother and his daughter, a perplexed frown on his face. ‘What are you talking about? What’s going on? Mama, what have you been up to?’

‘I rather think, Papa, that Granny has restarted her campaign to get me and Tom to have a blessing. And she’s roped poor Sybbie into her scheming yet again.’

‘I’m sorry, Granny Violet,’ Sybbie said, quietly, looking down the table at the Dowager with a guilty expression on her face. ‘I must not have done very well with the magazines.’

‘Don’t worry, my darling girl,’ Violet said, giving her a reassuring smile. ‘You’ve been a marvellous help keeping up your interest in weddings like you have.’

Sybbie beamed at her, giving her the thumbs up. Mary narrowed her eyes again, looking between the two of them.

‘You’ve been encouraging her, haven’t you, Granny?’

‘Yes, I have. I had hoped her interest might change your mind about the blessing,’ Violet replied, without the slightest bit of contrition. ‘Unfortunately, you have not been swayed.’

‘No, I haven’t,’ Mary snapped. ‘So, these minions of yours, what else have they been up to?’

‘The hairdresser and dentist people may have been asked to hand you bridal magazines during your visits,’ Violet said, airily. ‘And my rather efficient personal assistant may have signed you up to a few mailing lists or requested some brochures or quotes from businesses involved with the wedding trade. She may also have posted a few letters making enquiries about blessings to the estate office. I may also have mentioned the possibility of catering the event with Mrs Patmore in a conversation at her establishment one lunchtime.’

Cora shook her head. 'Oh, Mama, you didn't.'

Mary gaped at her grandmother. ‘You really have been on a mission, haven’t you?’

‘What made you even think of doing all that, Violet?’ Tom asked curiously.

‘If you must know, we had a rather interesting lecture at the Women’s Institute a few months ago by a gentleman claiming to be a behavioural scientist. He theorised that it was possible to nudge people into doing what you wanted them to do by taking certain actions to prompt them to think and act the way you want them to.’

The entire family stared at her in silence, quite taken aback by her disclosure.

‘Behavioural science?’ Robert said, his brow furrowed in confusion. 'I've never heard of such a thing.'

‘He claimed it was the ability to understand, predict and change human behaviour. Apparently, it's all the rage amongst big businesses these days. I actually only needed to change Mary’s behaviour rather than understand or predict it, but I decided it was worth a try,’ Violet said, nonchalantly.

‘You used behavioural science to try to influence Mary?’ Tom asked in disbelief. 'Maybe we should be offering you a job alongside Thomas.'

‘I tried, but it obviously didn’t work, so maybe the so-called professor was the quack I originally took him for when I saw the booking,’ Violet said, in an irritated tone. She looked around the table at her family. ‘Oh, please do shut your mouths all of you. You look like nothing more than a shoal of guppies.’

‘Mama, why didn’t you just speak to Mary again about having a blessing?’ Cora asked, reeling slightly from the lengths her mother-in-law had gone to to manipulate the situation.

‘Because Mary had made it perfectly clear at Edith’s wedding that she had no wish to discuss the matter,’ Violet pointed out.

‘Yes, I had. And yet you still couldn’t leave it alone,’ Mary riposted. ‘Although, I have to say I have a grudging admiration for your tactics. You'd give Machiavelli a run for his money.’

‘Thank you, my dear. I like to think I still have it in me to be a worthy opponent.’

‘You are that, Granny,’ Mary said, suddenly seeing the absurdity of the whole thing. ‘I raise my glass to you.’

Violet inclined her head graciously, raising her own glass. ‘Does this mean you have changed your mind about the blessing?’

‘No.’

‘Oh, Mummy, why not?’ Sybbie cried, pouting. ‘It would be so lovely!’

‘Because there’s no need for me and Daddy to have a blessing, darling.’

‘ _Au contraire_ , my dear,’ Violet put in, gazing steadily at Mary. ‘There is every need.’

‘No, there isn’t. We’re married and we feel married, don’t we, Tom?’ Mary said, reaching for Tom’s hand and dragging him into the battle.

‘Er, yes, we do,’ he said, looking a little uncomfortable.

‘But, Daddy, I want to see you get married,’ Sybbie said, fixing him with huge puppy dog eyes in a sad, mournful face. ‘You didn’t let me be there the first time.’

Tom looked across the table at her, helpless in the face of his daughter’s epic disappointment, garnished with a heavy dollop of hurt and a side order of betrayal.

The Dowager flicked her eyes between Sybbie and Tom, trying hard to keep a gleam of satisfaction at bay then fixed her gaze on Mary. ‘And _that_ is precisely why there is a need for you to have a blessing. It’s not about you two and what you need to feel married. It’s about and for us. Your family. You have denied all of us who love you dearly the chance to celebrate your union. I don’t believe it is too much to ask you to give us the opportunity to do just that.’

Sybbie suddenly scooted from her seat and came round the table to loop her arms around Tom’s neck, looking him straight in the eye. He slipped his arm around her waist, staring back at her.

‘Please, Daddy. Please have a blessing. I’d love it so much. It would make me so happy,’ she said, still deploying the puppy dog eyes.

Tom opened his mouth, caught Mary’s eye and shut it again.

‘Please, Daddy,’ Sybbie breathed, leaning her forehead against his, her big blue eyes fixed hopefully on his. 'Please.'

‘We’ll think about it,’ he blurted out, then looked at Mary, horrified by the words that had come out of his mouth.

Sybbie beamed at him, bouncing on her toes in excitement. ‘Does that mean you will?’

‘It means we’ll think about it,’ Mary said, firmly, glaring at Tom.

‘Thank you, Daddy! Thank you!’ Sybbie cried, giving Tom a big kiss on his cheek. ‘I love you!’

‘I love you, too,’ he said, knowing he’d been completely played and that Mary was likely going to kill him for showing a chink in their armour. ‘Now go and finish your dinner.’

Sybbie skipped back to her chair while Mary glowered down the table at her grandmother, who raised her glass at her again, a very smug, satisfied smile plastered over her face.


	45. Chapter 45

Mary had held her tongue all evening, moving smoothly onto other topics of conversation after Sybbie wrapped Tom around her little finger at dinner.

As the evening went on, they played games with the kids, ranging from charades to ‘Who am I?’ to the ever-present Twister, until it was time for the children to go to bed. As they headed upstairs, it didn’t escape Mary’s notice that Sybbie was still buzzing from Tom’s promise to think about having a blessing.

She didn’t converse one on one with her grandmother for the rest of the evening, but Mary knew Violet wouldn’t raise the topic of a blessing again, not tonight. The Dowager was a past master at this type of battle of wills and after playing her ace this evening, she recognised the value of temporarily retreating to let her victory settle.

Tom knew enough not to talk to Mary about what had happened while they were in company, so it wasn’t until they retired to their bedroom for the evening that he broached the subject.

‘I’m sorry,’ he said when they were safely behind closed doors. ‘I didn’t mean to say that.’

Mary gave him a hard look, not trusting herself to say anything quite yet.

‘Are you going to say something?’ he asked as the silence stretched into minutes. Mary threw him another look but remained silent, reaching up to take her earrings out.

‘I really didn’t mean to say what I did, but you didn’t see how Sybbie was looking at me. It felt like I would break her heart if I said no and I couldn’t do that to her. I just couldn’t,’ he said, imploring her to understand. ‘Please, Mary, I know you’re angry with me, but I just couldn’t say no to her. And I didn’t exactly say yes, did I?’

Mary snorted at that. ‘You might as well have done. “We’ll think about it”, indeed. As far as Sybbie’s concerned, that’s a yes.’

‘No, it’s not! It just means we kick the can down the road a bit, buy ourselves a bit of time and then say no.’

‘Oh, Tom, that’s not what it means at all,’ Mary said, half cross with him, half pitying her fool of a husband. ‘If you think you would have broken Sybbie’s heart by saying no tonight, just imagine how heartbroken she’d be if we say no now when she’s already convinced you’ve said yes.’

‘She doesn’t really think it was a yes,’ Tom said, furrowing his brow. ‘Does she?’

‘How many times have you told her you’ll think about something and then said no?’ Mary asked him, pointedly.

Tom tipped his head to one side, thinking about that and coming up with a big fat zero. ‘Shit.’

‘And the penny drops,’ Mary said with a sigh.

‘I’ve said yes, haven’t I?’

‘Yes, my love, you have. And worse than that, Granny knows she’s won,’ Mary said, turning to put her earrings on her dressing table. ‘And that really sticks in my craw.’

Tom groaned and walked towards her, standing behind her and wrapping his arms around her. ‘I’m sorry, darlin’, I am.’

Mary sighed and reached her hand up to pat his cheek. ‘I can't really blame you. You were up against a master tactician. You really didn’t stand a chance.’

Tom frowned. ‘Do you mean Sybbie? I think that’s a bit harsh.’

‘No, although Sybbie shows great potential. I mean Granny. She was the puppet master in all this. Sybbie was simply her perfectly chosen field agent on this occasion,’ Mary said, twisting in his arms and resting her hands on his chest. ‘I wouldn’t put it past her to have primed Sybbie to make sure she asked you about having a blessing instead of me. Granny knew I wouldn’t cave, but she also knew you’d fold like a deck chair if Sybbie guilt-tripped and beguiled you. And, lo and behold, you did.’

‘Am I that easy to manipulate?’ Tom asked, ruefully.

Mary shook her head and looped her arms around his neck. ‘Only when it comes to your daughter. Sybbie can wrap you around her little finger, Tom, and even at seven years old, she knows it. So, does everyone else. Granny just planted a few seeds and bided her time. Despite all that behavioural science guff she says she tried with me, I think she always knew you were our weak spot if she could come at you through Sybbie.’

‘You make her sound like a general planning out a battle,’ Tom said, with a chuckle.

‘That’s exactly what she is. A general with seventy-plus years of wargaming under her belt,’ Mary said, feeling slightly surprised that she had to explain this to him. ‘And you know she has the tenacity of a bloody limpet. When she puts her mind to something, she does not give in until she’s broken her opponent or exhausted every avenue of attack.’

‘And she broke me.’

‘Yes, my darling, she did. It looks like you are I are going to have a blessing after all.’

‘Are you furious with me?’

‘Well, I’m not thrilled with you, but I understand how it happened.’

‘Are you really totally against the idea? I don’t want to put you through it if you really don’t want to,’ Tom said, earnestly. ‘I know Sybbie will be upset if we don’t go through with it, but she’ll get over it eventually.’

‘Honestly?’

‘Yes, talk to me.’

‘If I were left to my own devices, I wouldn’t bother with a blessing. I don’t think we need it for us to feel married. Do you?’

‘No. You’re my wife. That’s all that matters to me. I don’t need a ceremony to tell me that.’

Mary beamed at him, stroking her thumb gently over his cheek. ‘That’s the right answer. But something Granny said tonight did strike a chord with me.’

‘And what was that?’

‘When she said the blessing isn’t for us, it’s for everyone else because they missed out. I know that’s absolutely true for both her and Sybbie. But I think it is for Mama and Papa too. And your mum. I think they’d all like the chance to see us get married. Well, the next best thing, anyway.’

‘So, you’re happy to go along with it then?’

‘Let’s just say I’m coming to terms with the idea. I just hate being manipulated into it. You know me, I loathe people telling me what to do. I like to do things on my own terms and Granny’s denied me that with all her machinations.’

‘I know you do, love, and I know I’ve backed you into a corner tonight even if I didn't mean to. I’ll make it up to you, I promise. Tell me what I can do to make it up to you,’ Tom said, giving her what he hoped was his most winning smile.

‘Well, first off, you can keep your mouth shut for a few weeks. I’m not giving Granny the satisfaction of knowing she’s won for a while yet. Let her stew,’ Mary said, in a slightly vindictive tone. 

‘Okay.’

‘I mean it, Tom. Keep this,' she said, putting her fingers over his lips, 'zipped, no matter how persuasive Sybbie might try to be on the subject. Stick to the ‘We’re thinking about it’ line. And if it all gets too much for you, send her my way.’

‘Aye, aye, captain. Anything else?’

‘You can take me out for dinner, just the two of us, somewhere _really_ fancy.’

‘Done. Anything else? Anything I can maybe do tonight to show you how sorry I am?’ he asked, waggling his eyebrows.

Mary grinned. ‘Mr Branson, are you suggesting you make amends in bed?’

‘Well, after screwing up so royally, I think it’s only fair that your wish should be my command tonight as penance. If that means you ordering me to take you to bed and attend to your every desire, so be it.’

‘What a noble sacrifice,’ Mary said, laughing.

‘I thought so,’ Tom replied, pulling her tighter against him. ‘So, what do you say?’

‘I say you have a lot to make up for, so why don’t you start by undressing me while I think about what I’d like you to do as penance.’

Tom nodded, smiling at her. ‘I can do that. I’ll tell you now, though, I intend to thoroughly apologise to every single bit of you I uncover, so it might take me a while to get you completely naked.’

‘Really? Well, I suppose that gives me plenty of thinking time.’

Tom shook his head, backing her towards their bed. ‘I wouldn’t bet on that. If I do it properly, you won’t be able to think straight for long.’

‘Ooo, promises, promises,’ Mary giggled as he leaned in to kiss her, his hands pulling her blouse out of her jeans.


	46. Chapter 46

Tom was parallel parking the car at school on Monday morning, looking over his shoulder and turning the steering wheel when Sybbie asked the question the first time.

‘Daddy?’

‘Hmm?’

‘Have you decided yet?’

‘Decided what?’

‘About the blessing.’

Tom flicked his eyes at her then went back to concentrating on parking the car.

‘Have you?’ she persisted.

‘No, we’re still thinking about it.’

‘When do you think you’ll decide?’

‘I don’t know.’

‘Will it be soon?’

‘I don’t know, Sybbie.’

‘But you won’t take long?’

‘Sybbie! I don’t know. Now, hurry up and get out of the car before we’re late. George, don’t forget your PE kit,’ Tom said, opening the car door and shutting down the conversation to hustle the children through the school gates.

* * *

The second time Sybbie asked the question was that evening when Tom took her to Brownies.

‘Have you decided yet, Daddy?’

‘Decided what, poppet?’ Tom said, his eyes on the road as they waited to pull out of Downton Abbey’s long, winding drive.

‘About the blessing,’ Sybbie said in a voice that quite clearly expressed her frustration that her father was not with the programme.

‘No, I told you this morning, we’re still thinking about it.’ Tom bit back a smile when he heard the big sigh of disappointment from the back seat as he swung out into the road.

* * *

Mary was in the kitchen when he got back from dropping Sybbie off. He threw his keys on the dresser and went over to kiss her, ruffling George’s hair as he passed him doing homework at the kitchen table.

‘She’s asked me twice today already,’ he said, leaning on the counter next to his wife.

Mary chuckled. ‘Only twice? It must be killing her not knowing. And you said?’

‘We’re still thinking about it.’

‘Good. Just keep saying that.’

George lifted his head. ‘Who’s asked you what?’

‘Sybbie. Asked me about this blessing she and Granny Violet want me and your mum to have.’

‘Oh, that,’ George said, already bored. ‘Can you come and help me with this sum? You’re better at numbers than Mummy is.’

Mary looked at her son feeling slightly insulted. ‘Thanks very much, George. You're six. I’m fairly sure I could do whatever sum you’re working on.’

George looked at her doubtfully. ‘I’d rather Dad helped me. He doesn’t get as cross with it as you do.’

Mary stared at him, wide-eyed, as Tom laughed beside her. ‘Well, that’s put me in my place, hasn’t it? Looks like you’re up, Tom.’

‘Let’s have a look then,’ Tom said, pulling out the chair next to George.

* * *

Tuesday morning rolled around and so did the question.

‘Daddy, have you thought about it yet?’

‘Thought about what, Sybbie?’

‘The blessing,’ Sybbie said, the silent ‘duh’ at the end of her sentence practically audible.

‘No, darlin’.’

‘But why not?’

‘We’ve been busy thinking about other things.’

‘What other things?’ Sybbie asked like she simply couldn’t fathom what else could be more important.

‘Lot of things. Work, getting the supermarket shopping done, how Ireland are doing in the Six Nations.’

Sybbie stared at him. ‘Those are not important things.’

‘Oh, I think they are. Now, don’t forget to bring home your water bottles tonight.’

‘But, Daddy, I just want to know.’

‘I know, poppet, and you’ll be the first to know. Now, come on, get a shimmy on, you’ve got to get to school and I’ve got to get to work.

* * *

By the end of the week, Tom had had more than a dozen exchanges with Sybbie along the same lines. She asked, he deflected.

‘Every day, Mary. Every day, at least twice a day, she asks me,’ he said as he climbed into bed.

‘She never asks me,’ Mary said, smiling at him from her dressing table as she cleaned the make-up off her face. ‘Not once. I suspect Granny’s drummed it into her not to. Stick to the soft target. That’s you, by the way.’

‘Ugghhhh,’ Tom groaned. ‘It’s beginning to drive me mad. Like Chinese water torture.’

Mary chuckled. ‘Now you know how I felt when Granny was pestering me about it.’

‘How long are we going to not tell them?’

‘Ooo, at least a couple more weeks, I think.’

Tom pulled her pillow over his face and groaned into it before chucking it aside and gazing forlornly at her. ‘Seriously? Mary, you’re killing me here. I’ve got to have this same conversation for a couple more weeks?’

Mary smiled sweetly at him as she put her pillow back in place and slid into bed next to him. ‘This is part of your penance, my love. You know that.’

Tom heaved a sigh. ‘I’m not cut out for these kind of games. I’m just a simple, straightforward man.’

‘Oh, darling, you’re not simple,’ Mary said, with a grin, nudging up alongside him and slipping in under his arm. ‘You just haven’t had the years of training I’ve had growing up with my grandmother. Trust me, Sybbie will be thrilled when we tell her. We’re just not going to tell her quite yet.’

‘Can we maybe tell her next week?’ Tom asked, hopefully.

'No. That's not long enough.'

'She's only a little girl. I feel like I'm torturing her.'

'I know, but it's good for her that you're not giving in to her straight away like you usually do. It's a good life lesson,' Mary said, firmly but not unkindly.

Tom sighed. 'I don't like keeping her in the dark when she's so desperate to know.'

'I know, but it's not for much longer, I promise.'

'But not next week?'

‘No. But I tell you what, I’ll do my best to help you put it out of your mind for a while,’ Mary said, trailing a hand down his chest and under the duvet.

* * *

Saturday morning found Tom giving the kids their breakfast before they headed off to their various activities.

‘Daddy, can I ask you something?’ said Sybbie, dragging her spoon through her cereal.

Tom braced himself. ‘Yes, love?’

‘Can I have a new bag for my dance kit? Mine’s getting a hole in the bottom.’

Tom breathed out a sigh of relief. ‘Well, that’s no good, is it? We’ll look at getting you a new one when you get back this afternoon.’

‘Thank you.’ She took a bite of her cereal and chewed for a while. ‘Daddy, can I ask you something else?’

‘They haven’t decided yet. They’re still thinking about it,’ George said before shoving a spoonful of Weetabix in his mouth.

Tom and Sybbie both turned their heads to stare at him.

‘What?’ he said, staring back at them, swallowing his food.

‘How did you know what I was going to ask?’ Sybbie said, a surprised look on her face.

George rolled his eyes. ‘Because you ask the same question about a hundred times every day and that’s always what Dad tells you.’

Tom pressed his lips together, trying to hide his smile.

‘I do not!’

‘Yes, you do. I don’t know why you bother when it’s always the same answer.’

‘Well, it’s got to change sometime, hasn’t it? They can’t think about it forever!’ Sybbie said, huffily.

‘I s’pect they’ll tell you when they’ve decided, won’t you, Dad?’ George said, gathering up another spoonful.

‘We will,’ Tom nodded in confirmation.

‘There. Told you,’ George said, looking at Sybbie and raising his eyebrows at her. ‘Maybe now you can stop asking all the time because it’s very annoying. And boring.’

Sybbie gaped at him as Tom tried valiantly to hold back his laughter. Sybbie turned her head to glare at her father.

‘It’s not funny, Daddy. _He’s_ not funny,’ she said, sternly. ‘And it’s not nice to laugh at people.’

‘No, sweetheart, it’s not. I’m sorry.’

‘I just want to know,’ she said, turning on the puppy dog eyes.

Tom steeled himself against the eyes and held his ground. ‘I know you do, and we will give you a decision, I promise.’

‘But wheeeeeeeeen?’ Sybbie whined.

‘When we’ve finished thinking about it.’

‘But what is there to think about?’ Sybbie said, a plaintive note in her voice.

‘Lots of things. Mummy knows better than me about everything that’s involved with a blessing. Why don’t you ask her?’ Tom said, craftily.

Sybbie gazed at him and them down at her empty bowl, looking utterly defeated. ‘Do you promise you’ll tell me when you’ve decided?’

‘Cross my heart.’

‘Hmmph. Okay, I’ll stop asking then. For now,’ she said, sliding off her chair. ‘I’m going to get my dance bag.’

‘Okay, poppet,’ Tom nodded, watching her disappear into the utility room. He shot a look at George and held up his palm. ‘Nice work, Georgie.’

George high-fived him without a word and shoved another spoonful of cereal into his mouth.

* * *

Sybbie went a whole week and a day without asking, although there were times when Tom could practically see the question trying to wriggle out of her mouth.

It was not until the Sunday that she broke while they were out walking the Abbey grounds as a family, Tom, Mary, Robert, Cora, the kids, and Robert’s beloved dog, Tia, all enjoying the cold fresh air.

Sybbie had been running around with George and Tia when she came up beside Tom and slipped her hand in his, walking alongside him, chattering about all sorts. Eventually, she came back to her favourite subject.

‘Daddy, are you ever going to decide?’

‘Decide what, love?’ Tom said, searching out Mary a few steps away. She looked over at him and he jerked his head to motion her over.

‘About the blessing. I’ve been waiting ever such a long time to find out.’

‘Did you hear that, Mary?’ Tom said, watching Sybbie’s eyes go wide and a nervous look appear on her face. She gazed down at the ground, suddenly finding it fascinating.

‘What’s that?’ Mary said, coming up beside them and taking hold of Sybbie’s other hand. She winked at Tom over Sybbie’s head and nodded.

‘Sybbie was asking if we’ve decided about the blessing.’

‘Oh, that. Well, that’s perfect timing, Sybbie, because we have.’

Sybbie’s head snapped up and she stared at Mary, her face lighting up hopefully. ‘You have?’

‘Yes.’

Sybbie waited expectantly then waggled Mary’s hand. ‘And? Are you going to have one?’

Mary gave her a big, bright smile. ‘Yes, we are.’

Sybbie stopped dead, staring at her open-mouthed. ‘Really?’

‘Really.’

Sybbie let out a little scream of delight then flung her arms around Mary’s waist. ‘Oh, thank you, Mummy, thank you!’

‘Are you happy, poppet?’ Tom said, grinning down at his daughter, running a hand over her head.

Sybbie peeled an arm from around Mary and wrapped it around him, pulling him into their hug. ‘So happy, Daddy! I’m so happy.’

‘What’s going on here then?’ Robert said, ambling towards them, Cora on his arm.

‘Can I tell them?’ Sybbie asked, breathlessly.

Mary nodded down at her. ‘Of course, you can, sweetheart.’

Sybbie took off at a run towards her grandparents, shouting gleefully, ‘Mummy and Daddy are going to have a blessing!’

Cora looked at Mary, her mouth falling open in surprise. ‘Really?’

‘Yes, we’ve decided we will.’

‘But I thought you were dead set against it?’

‘I changed my mind,’ Mary said, leaning into Tom and slipping her arm around his waist, feeling his arm settle on her shoulders. ‘We decided maybe we owed you all a wedding.’

‘Oh, darling, I’m so pleased,’ Cora said, beaming at her. ‘And your grandmother will be thrilled.’

Mary raised her eyebrows. ‘Do you think there’s any chance we can put off telling her for a few days? Let her stew for a while longer?’

‘Mary! That’s not very kind,’ her mother reprimanded her, then gave her a conspiratorial smile. ‘Although maybe a few days won’t hurt.’

Mary grinned. ‘I knew you’d see it my way, Mama.’

‘Well, that’s excellent news,’ Robert said, beaming at his daughter and son-in-law. ‘Now, have you thought about a cake? Or cupcakes? Or perhaps a cake and cupcakes?’

'No, Papa, not yet,' Mary chuckled, wandering over to link arms with him. 'But maybe you and I could have a chat about it as we walk.'

Sybbie returned to Tom's side and tugged on his sleeve. He looked down at her and she beckoned him down to crouch at eye level with her. 

'Thank you, Daddy. You've made me so happy,' she said, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing his cheek. 'I love you.'

'I love you too, my angel,' Tom said, hugging her back.


	47. Chapter 47

‘Anna, have you got the events diary handy?’ Mary asked in the office on Monday.

‘Yep, what do you need?’ Anna said, clicking it open on her screen.

‘I need to know when we have space available in the summer for a blessing?’

Anna looked over at her, narrowing her eyes. ‘A blessing? It’s not for you and Tom, is it?’

Thomas spun his chair round to stare at her. ‘You’ve never given in to the Dowager?’

‘Well, I wouldn’t put it quite like,’ Mary said, defensively, ‘but, yes, it’s for me and Tom.’

‘Ha! I knew it!’ Thomas crowed. ‘I knew the Dowager would get her way. Pay up, Batesy!’

Mary glared at them both. ‘You had a bet on this? Why are so many people betting on my love life? And more to the point, Thomas, you bet against me? Seriously?’

‘And it turns out I was right to. It’s all about form, Mary,’ Thomas said, sagely, ‘and as stubborn as you are, the Dowager has years of plotting and finagling on you. You’d have to be a fool to bet against old Lady G getting her way and nobody’s ever said Thomas Barrow was a fool. Plus, you folded, didn’t you?’

‘Technically, no, I didn’t. He did,’ Mary said, pointing at Tom, who was lurking behind his computer screen. ‘He got suckered by Sybbie.’

Thomas looked over at Tom sympathetically. ‘Ah, mate, I can totally see how that happened. Did she give you the puppy dog eyes? They work on me every time. She’s had more ice creams out of me like that than can possibly be good for her, but you just can’t say no, can you?’

‘See,’ Tom said, looking at Mary and hitching his thumb in Thomas’ direction. ‘He knows what it’s like. He understands.’

‘I think you’re both soft touches when it comes to Sybbie,’ Mary said, rolling her eyes in disgust then turning her attention back to Anna. ‘So, do we have any space or are we booked up?’

‘Actually, you’re in luck. We got a cancellation at the back end of last week. The lady in question phoned up to cancel and I spent another 20 minutes on the phone to her while she sobbed and ranted and told me all about what a cheating bar steward her soon-to-be ex was,’ Anna said, clicking through the diary.

Thomas grinned at her. ‘It never fails to amuse me, Batesy, how you can’t bring yourself to say the word bastard when you’re sober but get a couple of sauvignon blancs in you and you’re swearing like a trooper.’

‘Shut up, Thomas. Just because you have a mouth like a sewer all the time, doesn’t mean all of us have to,’ Anna said, loftily. ‘And I’m not paying anything up. The bet was that Mary would fold and she just said didn’t, Tom did, so that means all bets are off.’

Thomas frowned, shaking his head. ‘Nuh huh, the bet was that Tom and Mary would end up having a blessing and they are, so I win. That’s a tenner you owe me.’

‘Well, I’m with Anna,’ Mary said, emphatically, ‘because I most certainly did not fold. Anyway, you can fight about that later. This cancellation, when is it?’

‘The first weekend in September. Does that suit you?’

‘Tom? What do you think?’ Mary asked, quirking an eyebrow at him.

Tom shrugged. ‘It’s fine with me. And it gives time for the Irish contingent to get sorted with flights and so on.’

‘It gives us time to book all the necessary things, get a celebrant sorted and all that too,’ Anna said, mentally counting the intervening months. ‘It just about gives you time to get a dress, too, without the women at the bridal boutiques sucking their teeth at you and telling you there’s no chance of getting one shipped and altered in time. You’ll have to be quick though. It’s just over six months away.’

‘Hmmm, yes, that’s something I need to think about. I’m not sure I want a wedding dress. Not a traditional one anyway.’

‘Really?’ said Anna and Thomas at the same time.

‘No, been there, done that.’ Mary looked over at Tom. ‘Do you want me to wear a wedding dress?’

Tom shrugged again. ‘I want you to wear whatever you feel beautiful in. You know I think you’ll look gorgeous in anything.’

‘Aw, Tom, you’re just so cute when you’re in love,’ Anna said, propping her chin on her hand and gazing at him with a big, approving smile while Thomas made gagging noises in the background.

‘Sybbie might expect you to wear a wedding dress, though,’ Tom added, thoughtfully. ‘What with weddings being her current obsession.’

Mary wrinkled her nose, thinking about that. ‘She probably will, but there might be a way around that if I make her feel involved in the whole process. I’ll give it some thought.’

‘I might have an idea,’ Anna said, tentatively.

‘Go on, then,’ Mary nodded, encouragingly.

‘Well, if you don’t want a full-on, proper wedding dress, I could make you a dress.’

The other three stared at her.

‘You’d… you’d be willing to make me a dress for our blessing?’ Mary said, stunned.

‘Yes, I would, as long as it’s not loads of beading and embroidery,’ Anna said, glancing around at them all. ‘Why? Is that such a bad idea?’

‘No! No! It’s a… well, it’s a wonderful idea! I just… I would never have expected you to offer,’ Mary said, feeling quite emotional.

‘Well, you’re my best friend. Why wouldn’t I help you if I can? And it means you can have a lot of input into how you want it to look rather than an off-the-shelf dress.’

‘Oh, Anna,’ Mary breathed. ‘Thank you. Thank you so much.’

‘I could even make Sybbie a bridesmaid dress if she wants. Unless of course she’s set her heart on one already.’

‘Maybe that’s how we get her involved in the whole thing, so she’s not too disappointed about the lack of a fairytale princess dress,’ Mary said, thoughtfully.

‘What do you think then?’

‘I think you’re a genius, Anna Bates, and I love you,’ Mary said, giving Anna a radiant smile.

‘Aw, I love you too,’ Anna beamed back.

‘So, will you be my maid of honour?’

‘Of cou-‘ Anna started to say.

‘Woah, woah, woah! Now, let’s not be hasty here!’ Thomas interrupted, holding his hand in the air.

‘What?’ Mary said in confusion.

‘Ah, I forget to tell you about this,’ Tom said, flicking his eyes between Mary and Thomas.

‘Tell me about what?’

‘Why aren’t I in the running to be your maid of honour?’ Thomas said, indignantly. ‘You can’t just go dishing it out without considering all the options.’

‘That,’ said Tom, hitching his thumb at Thomas again, trying to hold back a massive grin as he waited for the entertainment to begin.

Mary and Anna both goggled at Thomas.

‘What?’ he said, crossly.

‘You… you want to be my maid of honour?’ Mary said, completely taken by surprise.

‘Yes. And the least you could do is consider it. I’ve been a rock for you throughout this whole little love affair you’ve had going on. Right from the beginning when Batesy here didn’t have a scooby about what was going on!’

‘Hey, that was hardly my fault!’ Anna said, indignantly. ‘You lot kept that from me for reasons best known to yourselves.’

Mary eyed Thomas carefully. ‘But you’re…’

‘What?’ he said, crossing his arms over his chest and frowning at her, daring her to say it. ‘I’m what?’

‘Not a maid?’ Mary finished, lamely.

Thomas huffed at that. ‘Well, technically, neither is she! And if you’re ruling it out because I’m a man, then I’m calling sexism. This should be an equal opportunities position in this day and age, don’t you think?’

‘I… well, I hadn’t thought about it at all.’

‘Exactly. But now you should give it some thought and not just go appointing people willy-nilly.’

‘But Anna’s going to be making my dress.’

‘And I gave you your fabulous wedding pictures and video.’

‘He’s got a point there, Mary,’ Tom said, leaning forward and propping his chin on his hand to watch the battle.

‘Well, why can’t he be your best man, then?’ Mary asked in irritation.

‘Kieran,’ Tom and Thomas said in unison.

Mary huffed out a displeased noise. ‘Can’t you tell Kieran he did it last time, so now it’s someone else’s turn?’

Tom shook his head, looking at her in disbelief. ‘You’ve met Kieran, right? How do you think that would go down with him? He’d think I’d got too high and mighty for him and I’d never hear the end of it.’

‘And he would kick my pretty little arse good and proper if I tried to fight him for it,’ Thomas put in. He looked across at Anna, giving her the once over. ‘I reckon I could take you, though, Batesy, if we have to wrestle for it.’

Anna narrowed her eyes at him. ‘I wouldn’t bet on it. I might be little, but I fight dirty.’

‘Nobody’s wrestling anyone for anything!’ Mary said, exasperated.

‘So, come on then, who are you going to choose?’ Thomas challenged. ‘And if you say Edith, I’m going to kick your arse from here to the Abbey and back.’

Mary shuddered. ‘No. God, no. Not Edith, even if we are getting on better at the moment.’

‘All right then who gets the job?’ Thomas said, batting his eyes at her. ‘Remember, I’m a God amongst men. You said so yourself. I’ll look fabulous in the pictures.’

‘Yeah, you could have a big lummox like him looming over all your pictures,’ Anna said, glaring at Thomas then turning to smile sweetly at Mary. ‘Or you could have your best friend who will have just made you a beautiful dress to your specification.’

Mary pressed her hands to her forehead, staring at them both. She flicked her gaze at Tom, who just shrugged at her.

‘Well, you’re no bloody help,’ she told him.

‘It’s your decision, darlin’,’ he said with a grin, glad he was out of it.

‘Right, okay. In that case, you can both be my attendants. My bridesmaid and my… bridesman. There. Satisfied?’

Thomas and Anna looked at each other and then beamed matching smiles at Mary.

‘Bridesman. I like it,’ Thomas said, happily.

‘It's the perfect solution, Mary,’ Anna nodded before casting a warning look at the preening bridesman. ‘Although I’m not making you a dress, Thomas. Or a suit. You can have a matching tie or something.’

Thomas shrugged, nonchalantly. ‘I can work with that. So, we need to start making arrangements then. You should talk to your dad about making more of his scrumptious cupcakes for the occasion, Mary.’

‘Oh, he’s already on it, don’t worry about that. It was literally the first thing he asked about when we told them the news.’

‘Good old Lord G, baker extraordinaire of Downton. They’re going down a treat in the farm shop and at the afternoon tea bookings.’

‘Right, well, I’ll book you into the slot in September then,’ said Anna, coming over all professional. ‘And we should start talking about your dress and what you want it to look like in the next few days. I’ll need to get cracking on it. Especially if I’m making one for me and Sybbie too.’

Mary nodded, finally beginning to feel a bit excited for the blessing she’d tried so hard to avoid. If they were going to do it, they were at least going to do it her way.


	48. Chapter 48

‘Anna, I can’t tell you how grateful and thrilled I am that you’re doing this for me,’ Mary said, setting down the tray of mugs and three of her father’s now famous cupcakes. ‘You are an angel.’

Anna sank down into the sofa and leaned forward to pick up her mug. ‘Don’t be silly. You are very welcome.’

‘Are you really going to make Mummy’s wedding dress, Anna?’ Sybbie asked, her eyes round, her pile of wedding magazines beside her. ‘A whole dress?’

Anna chuckled. ‘Yes, sweetie, a whole dress. And one for you and one for me too.’

‘Really?’

‘Really.’

‘Do you remember Anna’s wedding dress, Sybbie?’ Mary asked. She flicked open her Facebook app and clicked on Anna’s profile, bringing up a picture of her in said dress. ‘She made that too.’

Sybbie gazed at the picture, her mouth dropping open. ‘It’s so pretty!’

‘Thank you,’ said Anna, smiling at the child.

‘I thought you could only get dresses in shops. I didn’t know you could make them yourself,’ Sybbie said, looking at Anna with interest. ‘Is it hard?’

Anna’s smile got wider, amused by Sybbie’s thought process. ‘Not when you know what you’re doing. Do you do any sewing at school?’

Sybbie shook her head. ‘Only on a bit of square stuff with holes in it. We don’t make anything proper like a dress.’

‘Well, you’re a bit young yet to be making dresses, but I can teach you how to sew a few things if you like, Sybbie. Maybe we could make something for one of your dolls or teddies.’

‘Oh, yes, please! I’d love that,’ Sybbie said, beaming at Anna. ‘Thank you, Anna.’

‘You’re welcome. So, what are you thinking, Mary? Long? Short? Column dress? Full skirt? Mermaid? Trumpet? Floaty? Boho? Vintage?’

‘Goodness, that’s a lot of options,’ Mary laughed.

‘Or maybe something else completely? Mini skirt? Asymmetric?’ Anna raised an eyebrow at her, grinning as Mary laughed some more. ‘The world is your oyster!’

‘Do you want to look at some of my magazines, Mummy?’ Sybbie offered, patting the pile next to her.

Mary glanced at Anna and then at Sybbie. ‘I’m not going to have a wedding dress like they have in your books, darling. I want it to be a bit different from that.’

‘Oh. What does that mean?’ Sybbie asked, flicking her thumb up and down the corner edge of a magazine, looking a bit worried. ‘It’ll be white, won’t it?’

‘No, I don’t think so. White always makes me look a bit washed out and ill. I don’t want that when I’m trying to look beautiful for Daddy, do I?’ Mary said, getting her excuses in upfront.

Sybbie looked at her doubtfully. ‘But how will people know it’s a wedding dress?’

‘They’ll know because they’ll be at the blessing, so they’ll seeing me wearing it on the day, won’t they?’

Sybbie bit her lip, looking unconvinced. ‘I suppose so.’

‘Have you got a colour in mind, Mary?’ Anna asked, taking a sip of her drink.

‘Well, I was thinking I’d quite like to wear red like I did when I actually married him. You know, sort of as a nod to where it all started.’

Anna smiled softly at her friend. ‘Well, look at you getting all sentimental. Who’d have thought it, eh? But that’s quite a lovely idea. And that was a beautiful shade of red. It really works with your colouring too.’

‘Red?’ asked Sybbie.

‘Yes. What do you think?’ Mary asked, holding her breath, hoping Sybbie wasn’t going to create a scene about the distinctly non-bridal dress she was thinking about wearing for her blessing.

Sybbie tipped her head, giving it some serious consideration. ‘Daddy likes red. It’s his favourite colour. And Manchester United wear red.’

‘I know. That’s probably why it’s his favourite colour. And you want Daddy to love my dress, don’t you?’

‘Yes. And I think he will if it’s red,’ Sybbie nodded, gazing into the middle distance as if picturing the dress. 'Yes, I think that’s a good idea.'

Mary exchanged a look of relief with Anna.

‘But you don’t want the same style of dress, do you?’ Anna asked. ‘Otherwise, you might as well wear the Vegas dress.’

‘No, I’m just taking the colour of the Vegas dress as inspiration, nothing else. The rest of the dress won’t be anything like it. I’d like this one to be long for a start.’

‘Oh, yes, if it’s not white, it has to be long, definitely,’ Sybbie nodded approvingly, bringing all her new-found wedding dress knowledge to bear. ‘Otherwise, it’s just like a normal dress.’

‘Okay, and what kind of fit are you thinking, Mary?’

‘I was thinking a column dress. With a low back. Tom really likes a low back on a dress.’

‘Does he now? So, you want it to be a bit –‘ Anna paused and threw a cautious look at Sybbie, who was temporarily distracted by taking a big bite out of her cupcake – ‘s-e-x-y then?’

Mary grinned, also casting a quick look at Sybbie. ‘Yeah, a bit. I have a blue evening dress I could show you, so you know what I mean, but I don’t want it to be the same as that.’

‘Okay, I can do that. You’ve got the figure to carry it off. And a column dress will mean less material than a fuller skirted dress too.’

‘So, what happens next?’

‘I will look up some patterns based on what you’ve just described to me and maybe do a few sketches. We’ll have to start looking at material too. Maybe we can go to the haberdashery I use a lot and ask them for some help with that. They’ll be able to suggest some things and order whatever I need.’

‘That sounds perfect. Yes, we’ll get a date in the diary to do that,’ Mary nodded, pleased that Anna seemed to think what she wanted was doable. ‘And then I suppose we need to start thinking about what you and Sybbie are going to wear.’

Sybbie’s head snapped up from her cupcake, a big smile spreading over her face. ‘Are we going to talk about my dress now?’

‘Yes, poppet.’

‘Oh, I have some pictures,’ Sybbie said, lifting up her scrapbook. ‘Can I show them to you?’

Mary exchanged a smile with Anna. ‘Go on then. Show us what you’ve got.’

Sybbie left her sofa and skipped over to wedge herself between them, opening her book and paging through it in excitement.

* * *

‘How did you girls get on with Anna?’ Tom said as Mary and Sybbie came into the sitting room where he was lounging on the big comfy L-shaped sofa alongside George, idly watching Wales crush Italy in the Six Nations on their big-screen television.

‘We can’t tell you that, Daddy,’ Sybbie scolded, squishing herself right up next to him. ‘You’re not supposed to know.’

‘What? You can’t even tell me if it went well?’ Tom said, reaching his arm around her to tickle her.

Sybbie squealed and knocked his hand away.

Mary gently lifted George’s legs up and dropped down into the space between him and Tom, settling his feet in her lap.

‘Oh, I don’t know, Sybbie’, she said, breezily. ‘Maybe we can give him a few clues.’

Sybbie leaned around her father, staring at Mary in horror. ‘We can’t tell him, Mummy! It’s a secret!’

Mary winked at her. ‘So, I shouldn’t tell him that I’m going to wear a dress in the sky blue of Manchester City?’

Sybbie bit her lip and giggled as Tom twisted his head to give Mary a stern look. ‘You’d better not. There’ll be none of that at my wedding.’

‘Well, it’s my wedding too. But, no, I’m only kidding. I wouldn’t do that to you. Not least because you might actually walk out of the ceremony if I did. No, it’s actually going to be yellow with purple lobsters on it.’

‘That sounds… lovely,’ Tom said, raising his eyebrows. ‘You’ll look a treat in that.’

‘She’s fibbing, Daddy,’ Sybbie said, grinning at Mary, a naughty look on her face. ‘It’s going to be green with orange flowers on it.’

‘Ah, is it? The colours of the Irish flag, eh? That’s very appropriate. Your Uncle Kieran will approve of that,’ Tom said, seriously, nodding at Sybbie.

‘Oh, Sybbie, you know that’s not true. It’s going to be pink with gold and silver stripes. And I’m going to wear a helmet instead of a veil.’

Sybbie dissolved into giggles.

Tom chuckled, hugging her against him. ‘Why do I get the feeling you two are messing with me?’

Mary batted her eyes at him, trying to look innocent. ‘As if we would do such a thing. We’d never do that, would we, Sybbie?’

‘No, never,’ Sybbie giggled. ‘I’d never lie to you, Daddy.’

‘Will you lot shut up?’ George piped up from the corner of the sofa. ‘I’m trying to watch the television.’

Mary got hold of his feet and pulled, dragging him along the sofa, so she could tickle his tummy. ‘Are you?’

‘Yes! I’m watching the rugby! Stop it, Mummy!’ George laughed, trying to twist away from her.

‘Are you? And since when are you Welsh? Or Italian?’ Mary asked, continuing to tickle him mercilessly.

George wheezed, flopping around like a fish on a wire, involuntary giggles spilling out of him. ‘H-h-help me, Dad! S-s-s-stop her!’

‘Stop her?’ Tom said. ‘Stop her tickling you?’

‘Y-yes!’

‘What? You mean like this?’ he said, reaching over to tickle Mary's ribs as she bent over her son.

She yelped, starting to giggle herself. ‘Oh, you rotter! Stop it! Sybbie! Help me! They’re ganging up on me!’

Sybbie scrambled up and climbed over Tom, piling into the fray until the four of them were in a giggling heap on the sofa, nobody quite sure who was tickling who anymore. Mary met Tom’s eyes over the heads of their wriggling children and grinned at him, thinking how perfect this Saturday afternoon was turning out to be.


	49. Chapter 49

‘I’m beginning to think we’re not paying Anna enough,’ Mary said to Tom, skimming through the notebook she still kept by the bed despite now knowing how to put her phone in night mode.

‘Yeah?’ he said, looking up from his book. ‘Why’s that then?’

‘Because she’s a total godsend. I’ve barely had to lift a finger to organise anything for the blessing. She’s done it all.’

‘Well, that is what we pay her to do. At the moment, we’re clients as well as her employers.’

‘I know, but she is really good. Very efficient. And super calm all the time. Nothing fazes her. I might have to put her in charge of organising my whole life.’

Tom chuckled. ‘We’ll definitely have to give her a raise if you do that.’

‘She’d be a lot nicer to some of the idiots I have to deal with, that’s for sure.’

‘I don’t doubt that,’ Tom said with a grin. ‘Anna has the patience of a saint while you, my love, do not.’

Mary gave him a look. ‘I just don’t suffer fools gladly.’

‘You don’t suffer fools at all. I definitely see the Dowager in you there. Which always throws me a bit, I admit.’

Mary looked over to catch the faintly disturbed look on his face and chortled. ‘Are you worried you’re going to be stuck with your own version of Granny when we’re old and grey, Tom?’

‘Would it be wrong of me to say I hope not? I respect your grandmother, but I don’t particularly want to end up married to her,’ Tom confessed, pulling a face.

Mary put her notebook down and shuffled further down the bed, burrowing under Tom’s arm to settle in beside him, her head on his shoulder. He rested his book in his lap, keeping his finger in his page, and looked down at her.

‘Are you saying you won’t love me anymore if I turn into an old dragon?’ she said, poking him in the chest.

His lips quirked up in a smile. ‘First, I never said the Dowager was an old dragon. Please God, don’t ever let her think I did. And second, I didn’t say I wouldn’t love you anymore.’

‘No?’

‘No. Besides, if you do turn into an old dragon, you’d be my old dragon, wouldn’t you? And that makes all the difference.

‘Oh, it does, does it?’ Mary said, running her fingers playfully over his chest. ‘Well, for what it’s worth, even if I turn into a fearsome old woman, I don’t think I’ll be as bad as Granny.’

‘No, why’s that then?’

‘Because I have something she doesn’t.’

‘Oh, yes? And what's that?’

‘You. You soften my edges.’

Tom looked at her in surprise. ‘Do I?’

‘Yes, you do. You give me the time and space I need to calm down and look at things objectively instead of flying off the handle and reacting immediately. Not all the time obviously. I still have moments when I see red and let fly, but I’m better at not doing that than I’ve ever been.’

‘Do you really think that?’

‘I do. Look at me and Edith. We’re getting on so much better these days. Probably better than we ever have. And that’s down to you and the way you made me actively think about what I say to her before I say it.’

Tom chuckled. ‘I think that was less about me and more about the prospect of earning some sex stars.’

‘Well, yes, that was a huge incentive, I won’t deny that,’ Mary said with a lascivious grin. ‘But you came up with that as a way to make me think before I spoke. And I did, for probably the first time in my life when it comes to Edith.’

‘Well, I’m glad you and Edith are getting on better, but I hope you don’t think I’m trying to change you because I’m not. I love you just the way you are,’ Tom said, a note of concern in his voice.

‘I know you do. You see me for who I am, warts and all, and you still love me, which never fails to surprise me. And I don’t mean that you’re trying to change me. It’s just that you help me be a better person.’

Tom tightened his arm around her. ‘You’ve never been a bad person, Mary.’

‘No, but I can be sharp and unkind, I know that. Especially with Edith. Did you know Mama was terrified that our marriage would be the thing that ripped me and Edith apart forever when Edith took it so badly?’

‘No, I didn’t. I knew we were in dangerous waters, but I didn’t know Cora thought it might get that bad.’

‘Well, she did, and it was breaking her heart. But in actual fact, I think it’s turned out to be the thing that’s brought us back to being able to be sisters. I mean, we’ll never be bosom buddies, but we don’t constantly snipe at each other anymore. And that’s because of you.’

‘I think you’re giving me too much credit there, darlin’. You and Edith have been the ones putting in the effort to improve things between the two of you.’

‘No, I’m not,’ Mary said, shaking her head. ‘When she went off the deep end about us getting married, I would have given her both barrels every time I saw her if I’d been left to my own devices. You know how I reacted when she barged into the office screaming at us.’

‘Yes, I remember that very clearly. That was definitely a low point,’ Tom said.

‘It was your reward system that stopped me from doing the same thing when she hit the roof over Sybbie calling me Mummy. I made a conscious effort not to scream back at her because of you, because you made me think about how to temper my response to her.’

‘You’re saying I’m a calming influence on you?’

‘You are. You have been for a long time, since long before we were together. And you took over Sybil's role as the buffer between me and Edith after we lost her. But I have to say your methods for keeping the peace got more effective once you became my husband.’

Tom chuckled at that. ‘You mean I never bribed you to be nice with sex when I was your brother-in-law.’

‘You say bribe, I say encourage through a reward-based system,’ Mary replied with a smile. ‘And, yes, that’s exactly what I mean, but even though you used sex as an incentive, your reason for doing so stemmed from a desire to stop me ripping into Edith and making things worse. And as unorthodox as it was, it worked.’

‘Well, I knew my audience,’ Tom said, grinning at her. ‘And it wasn’t an entirely selfless act. I mean, I reaped the benefits too, didn’t I?’

Mary smiled, tracing a pattern on his chest. ‘Yes, you did, but that wasn’t why you did it. And I’m grateful to you. I really think you might have saved my relationship with Edith.’

‘Oh, Mary,’ Tom said, softly, dropping his book and wrapping both arms around her. ‘I don’t know what to say.

‘Well, I do,’ she said, slipping her arm around his waist. ‘And it’s thank you. While I might have been fine not speaking to Edith, it would have destroyed Mama and Papa and I couldn’t bear that. We all owe you a lot, Tom.’

‘No, no, sweetheart, you don’t. Even before our relationship changed, you and Edith were my family. I love you both - ‘ Tom laughed as Mary quirked an eyebrow at him ‘ – I do, even if it’s in _very_ different ways. I never liked seeing you two at odds. I just wanted to help smooth things over between you.’

‘Well, your genius reward system did that.’ Mary paused, tilting her head up to kiss him. ‘You know I’m practically conditioned now to expect a reward every time I’m nice to Edith.’

Tom grinned. ‘Is this your way of saying you think we should operate the star system every time we see Edith?’

‘Well, I wouldn’t want to slip up and make things awkward again,’ Mary said, lightly drawing circles on his chest with her fingers. ‘I mean, it’s better to be safe than sorry, right?’

‘I suppose it is. And I wouldn’t want you to feel like you’re not incentivised.’

‘Exactly. You see? This is why we make such a good team. We think along the same lines.’

‘Have you got any stars left to cash in?’ Tom asked in what Mary now thought of as his sex voice.

‘No. I’ve used them all. But Edith will be back down for the weekend in a couple of weeks…’

‘You know, you don’t need stars to get me to do things to you. All you have to do is ask,’ Tom said, stroking a finger down her arm.

‘I know, but I like having stars too. And I know I have to earn them because you’re strict about allocating them.’

‘That’s because if I left it to you, you’d award yourself a star for saying hello to Edith or handing her a biscuit.’

‘Well, you can’t blame a girl for trying,’ Mary said, with a cheeky grin. ‘Now, in the absence of stars, I was thinking maybe I could do something for you instead to show you how grateful this whole family is to you.’

‘Oh, yeah?’ Tom said, smirking down at her.

‘Well, I can never tell Mama and Papa exactly how you managed to keep their daughters talking, so I suppose it falls on me to thank you for all of us.’

‘And how do you propose to do that?’

Mary sat up and picked up the book in his lap, reaching over to drop it on the bedside cabinet. She swung her leg over him to straddle him and reached down to take hold of her nightdress, pulling it over her head.

‘Why don’t you tell me how you want me to start thanking you, darling?’ she whispered, leaning down to cup his face and kiss him.


	50. Chapter 50

‘Right, right, right, simmer down, ladies!’ Thomas shouted over the babble of voices, looking both ways down the table filled with Mary's Downton mummy mafia friends. ‘Now we get to the part of the evening where we find out just how well our lovely Mary knows her man.’

Mary groaned, slapping her hand over her forehead. ‘Very well. I know him very well, okay? Can we just skip this bit?’

‘No, we can’t. This is a very important part of the pre-wedding ritual. We need to know that you are compatible.’

‘We’re already married, Thomas! And I’ve known him for years!’ Mary looked sideways at Anna, sitting next to her with a bridesmaid sash over her dress. ‘Tell him, Anna.’

‘Oh, no, I can’t do that. Thomas has been working hard on this one. I can’t deny him his moment in the limelight,’ Anna said, beaming at Mary.

‘Every moment is a moment in the limelight for Thomas,’ Mary grumbled.

‘I heard that!’ Thomas said, narrowing his eyes at her from across the table. ‘And anyway, all the rest of these lovely ladies want to know just how well you know your beloved, don’t you, girls?’

A chorus of ‘We do!’ and ‘Yes!’ and ‘Tell us everything, Mary’ filled the air.

Thomas grinned smugly at Mary. ‘See? Right. So, a few ground rules. No lying. No avoiding the question. And if you get an answer wrong, you have to do a shot. Okay? Right. Good. Now, let’s get on with it. Question one.’

‘Oh, Lord, somebody help me,’ Mary muttered.

‘This is an easy one, this is, just to get you started. What is Tom’s middle name?’

Mary relaxed a little. Maybe this wouldn’t be as bad as she feared. ‘Declan.’

‘Correct! But even I knew that, and I’ve never shagged Branson,’ Thomas said, winking and grinning at the women around him as they roared with laughter. ‘Moving on. Question two. What’s his favourite television programme?’

‘Line of Duty,’ Mary said, instantly, feeling relieved. If all the questions were like this, she’d got this, she could do this.

‘Another big tick for you. Patience, ladies, patience,’ Thomas said in response to shouts of ‘Boring!’ from the far end of the table. ‘We have to ease her in gently. But I promise you, it gets more interesting. Question three. Mary, I asked Tom to tell me somewhere you really like him to kiss you. What did he say?’

Mary looked at Thomas confused. ‘Where? Do you mean a place? Like the bedroom or the kitchen or something?’

‘No, you tit! I mean somewhere on your body.’

‘Oh, erm, right. Er, well, I like it wherever he kisses me – ‘ she broke off, smiling at the catcalls from along the table, ‘ – but if I have to narrow it down, I’m going to say my neck.’

‘Congratulations, that is the right answer! Okay, question four. I also asked Tom what his favourite part of your body is. What did he say?’

Mary flushed, wondering just how explicit Tom would be willing to get with his answers. Not very, she decided. Especially not if it was Thomas doing the asking. ‘My back,’ she said.

‘Also correct. Four out of four so far. Now, Mary, that surprised me, that answer. Why did he say your back?’ Thomas raised a curious eyebrow. ‘I mean, I’m no expert on what men like about women’s bodies but that seems like a strange answer to me.’

‘Yeah, it is,’ Kate put in from the seat next to Thomas. ‘Most of them are all about tits and arses, maybe legs. Back is a weird one.’

Mary looked around the table, about a dozen pairs of eyes looking at her curiously, feeling a flush stealing up her face. ‘He, um… he likes to… he likes to kiss it. All over.’

That set off a round of appreciative comments and the beginnings of a discussion amongst several of the women around the table. Anna snuck a glance at Mary and grinned at her. ‘Ah, hence the low back,’ she whispered, watching in amusement as Mary bit her lip and gave her a quick smile and a nod.

‘All right, all right. Question five. I asked Tom to tell me what your favourite part of _his_ body is. Now, then, Lady Mary, what did he say to that?’ Thomas asked, waggling his eyebrows across the table at Mary. ‘And don’t you bloody dare say some lovey-dovey crap like his eyes.’

‘He’s got lovely eyes!’ Mary said indignantly. ‘They are a really beautiful blue colour.’

‘He might have eyes bluer than Frank Sinatra, but that’s not the kind of body part I’m after. In fact, I’ll tell you now, he never mentioned his eyes,’ Thomas said, consulting his question card and raising his eyebrows at Mary. ‘So, come on. Spill.’

Mary opened her mouth and shut it again, blushing like a virgin.

‘Come on, don’t be shy,’ Thomas said, encouragingly. ‘He wasn’t.’

Mary shut her eyes. ‘His willy,’ she said, feeling her face burn.

The table erupted into shrieks of laughter. Mary opened her eyes and found herself drawn into the laughter, despite her embarrassment.

Thomas flapped his hands, motioning for quiet, even while he was grinning like a loon. ‘Willy? His willy? Mary, what are you? Ten? It’s a cock, love, a cock. Say it.’

Mary put her hands to her face then dropped them, enunciating clearly. ‘His cock.’

The table dissolved into laughter again with a few whistles thrown in.

‘Wrong!’ shouted Thomas, over the noise. ‘That is not what he said.’

Mary looked over at Thomas in surprise. ‘He didn’t? What did he say?’

‘Do the shot first and then I’ll tell you the correct answer.’

Mary picked up one of the shots of vodka lined up in front of her and knocked it back, feeling her throat burn and her eyes water. ‘Go on, then. What did he say?’

‘He said his bum. And I have to say, he does have a nice arse,’ Thomas said, appreciatively.

‘Thomas!’ Mary said, laughing in mock outrage. ‘You should not be checking out my husband’s arse.’

‘I bet I’m not the only one around this table who’s ogled Tom’s arse at some point or another, especially when he runs around that football pitch in his little shorts blowing his little whistle,’ Thomas grinned, looking for support amongst the assembled Downton mummy mafia and catching a few nods and sheepish looks. ‘And there’s no harm in a bit of window-shopping, Mary. I know Anna’s always perving on my own perfect peach.’

Anna rolled her eyes at him, laughing. ‘Only because you’re always shoving it in my face!’

‘Well, Tom does have a lovely bum,’ Mary nodded. ‘But delicious as it is, it’s my second favourite part of his body if only because it doesn’t give quite as much satisfaction as his wi… cock.’

Thomas guffawed with laughter. ‘That’s my girl! Right, question – what number is this? – six, question six. Are you ready?’

‘No, but I know that won’t stop you,’ Mary said, laughing at him. ‘Go on then, hit me with it.’

‘Right, now we want to know if you’re a size queen,’ Thomas said with the dirtiest of grins on his face, a grin that got wider as the noise level shot up again and Mary stared at him in horror.

‘What?!? I’m not telling you that!’

‘Question five. How big…’ Thomas drew the moment out, milking it to the delight of the rest of the hen party, ‘… are Tom’s feet?’

Mary stared at him and then creased up, relief making her laugh. ‘Oh, okay. Yes, I’ll tell you that. Size 10.’

She looked sideways at Anna, miming wiping her brow. ‘Phew, I thought that was going to be something else.’

‘See, I’m nice to you sometimes, Kind, even,’ Thomas said, giggling at the thankful look on Mary’s face. ‘Now, on to… question seven!’

‘Oh, God,’ Mary mumbled, taking a fortifying swig of her wine.

‘Right, I asked Tom where’s the most unusual place you two have had sex. What was his answer?’

Mary put her hand over her eyes, groaning. ‘You did not ask him that.’

‘I most certainly did.’

‘And he told you?’

‘He gave me an answer, yes.’

‘Oh, God, I don’t think I can tell you. Papa would not be happy if he found out.’

Thomas laughed, delighting in Mary’s squirming. ‘Well, if you don’t answer, I’m going to tell everyone what Tom said anyway, and you’ll have to do another shot.’

‘Right, okay. Okay. The roof. We did it on the roof of the Abbey,’ Mary said, quickly, hoping to God her father never got wind of that.

Anna goggled at her. ‘The roof of the Abbey? Wasn’t that dangerous? What if you fell off?’

‘We weren’t that close to the edge, Anna, but Papa would freak out if he ever found out. He can’t deal with heights at the best of times and I can’t imagine he’d be happy to hear Tom and I had christened the roof of the ancestral home.’

Anna stared at her then burst out laughing, joining in with the rest of Mary’s audience, half of whom seemed impressed, half horrified.

‘That is indeed what Mr Branson told me too,’ Thomas said, gleefully. ‘You dirty cow. Shagging on the roof of the Abbey in full view of anyone in a mile radius. What if someone had had a drone up in the air filming stuff? You could have ended up on some porn site somewhere!’

‘Shut up,’ said Mary, trying not to laugh herself. ‘How many more of these questions are there?’

‘Er, three more,’ Thomas said, checking his card. ‘Shall we move on to the next one?’

‘We might as well,’ Mary said with a resigned sigh. ‘I can’t imagine you’re going to let me off any of them.’

‘No, you’re right, I’m not. All right, question eight. This is a relatively easy one. What song was playing right before Tom proposed to you?’

Mary pressed her lips together, shooting Thomas a look, knowing he knew he was skating on thin ice here, but at least Tom had told her the story, so she could answer this one. ‘Marry You by Bruno Mars.’

‘Correct! Ah, that was such a memorable moment, wasn’t it, Batesy?’ Thomas said, beaming at Mary, amused by his own little in-joke as she glared at him. ‘Such a romantic gesture.’

Mary stuck her tongue out at him.

‘All right, moving on. This is the penultimate question. The torment is nearly over, babe. So, I asked Tom if anyone has ever nearly caught the two of you having sex. What did he say?’

Mary flushed, a guilty look flashing over her face. ‘Oh, no, you didn’t.’

‘I did.’

Mary hesitated.

‘Come on. No lying or avoiding the question, remember?’

‘He said yes, we have nearly been caught.’

‘He did say yes, but that’s not enough. You need to say where you were and who nearly caught you.’

Mary put her face in her hands, shoulders shaking as she tried to stop laughing.

‘Come on, Branson. Out with it. Fess up,’ Thomas said, sternly.

‘All right, all right.’ Mary sat up, squaring her shoulders. ‘Where? The office. Who nearly caught us? You and Anna.’

The rest of the women cackled with laughter again as Anna stared at her, her mouth slack with shock, while Thomas pinned Mary with a disapproving look.

‘You never!’ said Anna, in disbelief.

‘We did,’ Mary said, looking guilty.

‘When?’

‘A few months ago, in the summer.’

‘And we nearly caught you?’

‘Yes.’

‘What? But where were me and Thomas? Surely, we weren’t in the office. I mean I think I’d remember walking in on you and Tom.’

‘You were outside talking to Thomas while he was smoking, and we were… inside the office.’

Thomas looked at her accusatorially from across the table, wagging his finger at her. ‘And what was the only ground rule I gave you when we got back from Vegas?’

‘No shagging in the office.’

‘And what did you do?’

‘Shagged in the office,’ Mary giggled, laughing even harder at the outraged look on Thomas’ face and the shock on Anna’s.

‘Please tell me you didn’t do it on any surface either me or Anna use.’

‘No, we didn’t. We did it up against the door,’ Mary said, blushing like a schoolgirl.

‘Right, well, don’t do it again. Remember the golden rule,’ Thomas said, pointing his question card at her. ‘No shagging in the office!’

‘Okay, okay, no more shagging in the office, I promise.’

Thomas narrowed his eyes at her then returned his attention to the card in his hand. ‘Right, final question. I asked Tom to tell me your favourite sexual position. What did he say?’

Mary put her blazing face back in her hands again.

‘Come on, if you can shag within a few metres of me and Batesy, you can answer this question,’ Thomas said, with a shit-eating grin on his face. ‘What did he tell me?’

Mary shook herself and sat up straight, taking her face out of her hands. ‘All right. Me on top.’

‘Incorrect!’ Thomas yelled over the noise of the rest of the table. ‘Drink!’

‘What do you mean, incorrect?’ Mary said, indignantly, absolutely sure that Tom would have given the same answer.

‘You know the rules. Do the shot and then I’ll tell you what he said,’ Thomas said, his grin splitting his face.

Mary narrowed her eyes at him then tossed back another shot. ‘Go on, then. What did Tom say to that?’

‘He told me it was none of my bloody business and to bugger off!’ Thomas replied, shaking with laughter.

‘Oh, you bastard!’ Mary cried, grabbing a bit of bread and throwing it at Thomas’ head. ‘You absolute bastard!’


	51. Chapter 51

‘This house takes my breath away every time I see it,’ Tom’s mother said, settling into the sofa, a cup of tea in her hand. ‘I know you live in a stately home, but it just doesn’t seem real until I’m actually here and see it for myself.’

‘It’s too big, really, Pat,’ Mary said, settling herself in the chair opposite her mother-in-law. ‘Even with the top couple of floors all closed up.’

‘Do you never go up there then?’

‘Sometimes, but there are rooms up there that haven’t been opened up since my great-grandfather’s time. We use the old servants’ quarters for storage, but nobody really goes up there. Edith, Sybil and I did a bit of exploring when we were teenagers and I daresay George and Sybbie will too when they are a bit older.’

‘Oh, that gives me a bit of the heebie-jeebies, that does, knowing there are rooms up there that have been shut up for that many years. There could be anything in them. It makes me think of that book, _The Woman In Black_ , where there’s a ghost haunting the old nursery in Victorian clothes.’ Pat gave a little shiver and looked at her daughter-in-law slightly nervously. ‘Are there any stories of hauntings here? A house this old, plenty of people must have passed under its roof.’

‘There was a story Carson told me when I was younger about a suicidal footman in the attic, but it turned out not to be true,’ Mary said, trying to reassure her mother-in-law. ’The only story I can think of involves one of Papa's great-great-aunts just before the First World War. Apparently, she had a young, Turkish gentleman in her boudoir and he died rather suddenly between her sheets if you can believe it. We found some family letters about it. It would have been quite the scandal back in the day, but it seems it was hushed up.’

‘Ah, I see you’re giving the family skeletons an outing, Mary,’ Robert said, coming into the room with a tray holding a cake, a stack of plates and some cutlery.

‘Lord Grantham,’ Pat said, putting her cup down and standing up, looking unsure about how to behave around Mary’s father.

Robert put the tray down on the coffee table and turned to kiss Tom’s mother on the cheek. ‘How many times, Patricia? Please call me Robert. We’re family; there’s no need to stand on ceremony. Now, would you care for a slice of cake?’

‘Oh, you should, Pat,’ Mary advised. ‘Papa is making quite the name for himself with his baking at the moment. His cupcakes are a best-seller in the estate’s farm shop. He can hardly make them quick enough to satisfy demand.’

‘I’ll take a slice and gladly, especially with such a glowing recommendation,’ Pat replied, smiling at the look of joy that lit up Robert’s face.

‘Excellent, excellent. Now, I brought enough for everyone, but I see Tom, Kieran, Bridget and the children aren’t here.’

‘No, Tom’s taken them down to the adventure playground for a while. Pat and I decided it was more civilised to have a cup of tea and a chat,’ Mary said, picking a plate up from the tray. ‘I’m sure they’ll be hungry when they get back though.’

‘Well, I shall leave the tray here, then. I’m afraid I can’t stay. I have a batch of cupcakes in the oven that are due out shortly and another batch waiting to go in. Your mother should be back in an hour or so, so I daresay she will join you then. In the meantime, I will leave you ladies to it. Patricia, it is always a pleasure. I will see you at dinner where I hope you will tell me everything that’s been going on in Ireland.’

‘Oh, I will, indeed. And thank you for the cake; it truly is delicious,’ Pat said, waving her cake fork at Robert as he departed with a huge smile on his face. ‘Tom said he’d taken up baking. I must admit to being sceptical about how successful he would be as a novice baker, but this is fantastic.’

‘I know. Nobody was more surprised than me when Papa turned out to be a virtuoso in the kitchen. You could have knocked me down with a feather.

Pat eyed Mary carefully over her teacup. ‘Would you be shocked if I said I felt the same when Tom rang to tell me the two of you were married?’

‘No, I wouldn’t. I think it took everybody by surprise. Not least the two of us.’

‘So, you really weren’t planning it?’

Mary laughed, thinking back to the morning she and Tom woke up to the bombshell revelation that they were married. ‘No, not in the slightest. Tom asked me to marry him and we literally exchanged vows within a couple of hours. Believe me, there was no planning involved.’

‘I know we haven’t really had the chance to talk about your marriage to my son, Mary. Would you allow me to ask you a question and promise to give me an honest answer?’

Mary gazed at her mother-in-law and nodded. ‘Of course, I will. This sounds like you want to have a serious talk.’

‘I do. I want to set my mind at rest.’

‘All right. Ask me whatever you want, Pat. I have nothing to hide.’

Pat put her plate down, fixing Mary with a serious look. ‘Since Tom was wee, he has loved with his whole heart. I know my son. When he loves, he loves entirely, and he will do anything for that person. Anything.’

‘Yes,’ said Mary, her eyes going soft at the thought of her husband as a little boy. ‘I know that.’

‘He loved Sybil like that.’

‘Yes, I know that too.’

‘I know I don’t know you very well, Mary, but you are nothing like Sybil, for all that she was your sister.’

‘No, I’m not.’

‘Then I suppose what I am asking is is this marriage real? Or are you both making do with something that is easy? Have you simply fallen into this relationship because it's the easiest thing to do when you have spent so much time together, living and working in the same place?’

Mary set her teacup down and gazed steadily at Tom’s mother. Pat flushed but met her eyes, obviously set on getting an answer to her question.

‘You met my first husband, Matthew, didn’t you, Pat?’

‘I did. He seemed like a very nice man. I was very sorry to hear of his passing at such a young age. And so soon after Sybil too.’

‘He was one of the best men I have ever known, and I loved him completely. He saw more good in me than anyone else ever did, including myself. I’m not always a nice person, I know that. I can be moody, snappy and unkind. Honestly, I can be quite insufferable at times. But Matthew always made me want to live up to the image he had of me.’

Pat looked quite bemused at Mary’s assassination of her own character. ‘I have to say, Mary, you’re not selling yourself as the ideal wife for my son, here.’

‘But that’s the thing. Matthew loved me, but he refused to see how flawed I am. Tom doesn’t have me on a pedestal as Matthew did. Tom sees me for who I am and yet he loves me anyway. That is such a gift, Pat. And he makes me be a better person, not because he expects me to be perfect all the time, but because he sees that I’m not and helps me fight against some of my less attractive traits.’

‘So, you’re telling me he loves you.’

‘He does.’

‘And what about you? Do you love him?’

Mary paused for a moment, thinking about how to explain how she felt about Tom. ‘When Sybil first brought Tom into our lives, I confess, I didn’t know what to make of him. He was so different from everyone else I knew. He talked about things we never discussed at home. He had alternative views on things that were practically sacred in a family like ours. If I’m honest, I didn’t think he and Sybil would last. It wasn’t until after they married that I began to understand him more. And then when we lost Sybil, there were times when I thought we might lose him too.’

‘I remember,’ Pat said, softly, a sheen of tears appearing in her eyes as she thought back to those terrible months. ‘I feared for him, so I did. He was in such a dark place.’

Mary nodded, casting her mind back to that awful time. ‘He was and I couldn’t bear to see the pain he was in. It was so visceral. I did everything I could to help him through it, but I will be honest and say that, at the time, I did it more because I knew that’s what Sybil would have wanted not because I loved Tom, although I had grown fond of him by then.’

‘I remember him talking about you and Matthew at the time,’ Pat said, her chest tightening with the memory of the despair she’d seen in her youngest son after losing his first wife. ‘About how you helped out with Sybbie and kept him afloat. I wanted him to come home, but he wouldn’t. He wanted to be where he had built memories with Sybil.’

‘And I’m so thankful he stayed in Downton. When I lost Matthew, Tom was the one who helped pull me through. He was the only person who knew what it felt like to lose your soulmate. He let me grieve, but when he could see that I needed to come back to myself, he pushed me until I did. I hated him at times for that. Those days when all I wanted was to sink into the earth next to Matthew, Tom was there, pulling me back to life. I kicked and screamed against it sometimes, but he never gave up on me.’

‘So, you saying you feel grateful to him?’

‘I am grateful to him, for so many things, but that is not why I’m married to him now.’

‘No?’

‘No. Are you worried that we both lost the loves of our lives and now we’ve settled on each other as the closest we can get to having them back?’

‘That’s exactly what I’m worried about,’ Pat said, her concerns written all over her face. ‘I don’t want my boy to settle for anything. I want him to have the life he deserves, not a facsimile of it. I don’t mean to be rude, Mary. I’m just trying to be honest with you.’

‘I know. You’re his mother. Of course, you want the best for him. But let me finish telling you about me and Tom and the journey we’ve been on.’

‘All right. Tell me.’

‘After Matthew died and Tom and I began working together, he became one of the most important people in my life. I trust him more than anyone else. I respect him. He challenges me and he never bores me, which is not something I’ve experienced often in my life. People often disappoint me, but Tom never does. He treats me as his equal and expects me to do the same for him. He became my best friend. I loved him.’

‘A best friend is not the same as a husband.’

‘No, and I admit, it took me a long time to realise that the love I felt for Tom was more than friendship. I had clues, but it was like I had blinders on. He was my brother-in-law and that was that. But I missed him ferociously when he went to Boston and I hated every woman he ever dated after Sybil. I know now that I was in love with him for a long time before I recognised it for what it was.’

‘So, you do love him?’

‘Heart and soul. I am hopelessly and helplessly in love with him,’ Mary said, trying to show Tom’s mother she had nothing to fear.

Pat’s eyes filled with tears as she looked back at her. Mary left her seat to sit next to her mother-in-law on the sofa. She picked up her hands, clasping them in hers.

‘I love your son, Pat, and he loves me. We were both fortunate enough to find real love with our first spouses. I never expected to find that sort of love again and neither did Tom, but we have. We’ve found it with each other, crazy as that might sound. Believe me, you have nothing to worry about.’

‘Forgive me for being so intrusive, Mary. I just… I just needed to know that my boy is truly happy.’

Mary shook her head. ‘You have nothing to be sorry for. I understand completely. I know the shift in our relationship must seem odd, but there is nothing false about it. Ask him yourself. He will tell you. And perhaps spending time around us as a couple will help you see that there is real love between us.’

‘I’m sure I will.’

‘Well, my sister Edith, she was apoplectic when she found out about me and Tom, but she can see how it is between us now, so I’m sure you will too.’

Pat squeezed Mary's hands. ‘I’m glad we’ve had the chance to have this talk. You’ve helped set a worried mother’s mind at rest. You’ll understand when George is courting.’

‘Heavens, I hope I have a good few decades before I have to think about a daughter-in-law!’ Mary said, with a chuckle. ‘Right now, I think George would rather chew off his own thumb than contemplate such a horrible thing as having a girlfriend!’

‘Ah, sure, and a handsome wee lad like George must have all the girls running after him in the playground!’

‘I rather think that might be why he’s so good at sprinting,’ Mary said with a twinkle in her eye.

‘Tommy tells me George is calling him Dad now.’

Mary smiled, her face going soft as she thought of the strong bond between Tom and her son. ‘Yes. That was the first thing George asked after we got married. I think he’s always thought of Tom as his dad and he’s just thrilled to be able to call him that now.’

‘Then I would be just as thrilled if he wanted to call me Granny like Sybbie does.’

‘Well, I’m glad you’re okay with that because I rather think George has already decided that he’s going to do just that,’ Mary said, chuckling.

Her mother-in-law cast a speculative eye at her. ‘And am I to expect any more grandchildren?’

Mary smiled. ‘Ah, the million dollar question. Tom warned me you might ask. Do you know you’re the only person who has?’

‘Have I overstepped the mark? I can be a little blunt sometimes, so I’m told.’

‘No, it’s fine. Let’s just say it’s a possibility, shall we?’

Pat smiled, patting Mary’s hand. ‘Then I shall await the happy news. From what you’ve told me today, I’m sure the two of you are making every effort to make it happen.’

Mary began to laugh, taken aback by her mother-in-law’s forthright comment. ‘Goodness, you can be blunt, can’t you?’

‘I simply remember what it was like to be married to a man you love, Mary, even though my Paddy has been gone these many years.’

‘I wish I’d met him,’ Mary said, softly.

‘He would have liked you, I’m sure. He was fond of a forthright woman, God love him’ Pat told her, with a smile and a confident nod. ‘And it seems the apple hasn’t fallen far from the tree.’

‘No, it appears not,’ Mary agreed.

‘Although, I’m not sure what he would have thought about our wee Tommy marrying not one but two aristocratic English ladies. I think he would have been gobsmacked by that.’

‘Between me and you, Pat,’ Mary confided, ‘I think there are times when Tom is still gobsmacked about that too. I think he forgets about the title. You should see his face sometimes when someone addresses me as Lady Mary. You’d think he was married to the Queen.’

‘Oh, no,’ said Tom’s mother. ‘I don’t think she’s his type at all.’

Mary burst into laughter, feeling like she’d made a breakthrough with her new mother-in-law.


	52. Chapter 52

‘I can see why you like it here, Tommy,’ Kieran said to his brother as they sat on a bench, watching their kids race around Downton Abbey’s adventure playground, Kieran’s wife, Bridget, keeping a close on the youngsters. ‘It’s a beautiful part of the world.’

Tom nodded, ‘It is. Some of the countryside around here is just breathtaking. But we’re not too far from a couple of large cities too, so it’s the best of both worlds.’

‘Not sure I’d want to rattle around in that big old house, though. I prefer something a bit cosier. Must be weird, too. when you have strangers paying to come into your home and nosey around.’

‘That’s when the size of the place comes in useful,’ Tom said, explaining the situation to his brother. ‘We only let the public into the rooms on the ground floor. They don’t come into the private rooms upstairs, and we’ve got the space to have our own living rooms up there. I mean, we use the rooms on the ground floor when the house is closed to the public, but we don’t need them.’

Kieran cocked his head, squinting over at Tom. ‘I still find it hard to believe your father-in-law is a lord, an honest-to-god lord.’

Tom grinned. ‘I know you do, Kieran. To be honest, I feel like that myself sometimes. I forget about the titles most of the time. Robert’s posh, but he’s not hoity-toity. The most rigid of them all is Mary’s grandmother, but she’s not like that with me, not anymore.’

‘Ah, the redoubtable Dowager. I don’t mind saying she scares the bejesus out of me.’

‘There’s no shame in that. I’d be more worried if you were blasé about her,’ Tom said, tossing a smile at his brother. ‘When Violet is on form, she’d scare the bejesus out of Lucifer himself.’

‘But you’re saying she doesn’t pull all that aristo crap with you. Why’s that then?’

Tom shrugged. ‘I think because she’s got to know me over the years. Mary says she has a soft spot for me. I know she trusts me. She falls out with Robert and Cora from time to time when they don’t let her have her own way, and when that happens I’m the one she lets know where she’ll be, albeit under strict instructions not to let the rest of the family know where she’s scuttled off to.’

‘Well, look at you, confidant to an English countess. You know, we’ve long-dead ancestors who would be turning in their graves if they knew that,’ Kieran said, giving his younger brother a sideways glance. ‘Do you remember when we were little and Da used to tell us stories about his grandad taking part in the Rising and having running battles with the Black and Tans? Didn’t he even have something to do with burning a stately home somewhere near Dublin back in the day? And now look at you, with two wives straight out of the top drawer of the British aristocracy.’

Tom gazed at Kieran, wondering if this was going to turn into something, this little speech about their family history and the social status of his in-laws. ‘Have you a point you’re trying to make, Kieran?’

‘No, I’m just remarking on the strangeness of it all.’

‘Well, you can’t help who you fall in love with, can you?’

‘Even when it’s the sister of your first wife?’ Kieran said, knowing he might well be pushing the boundaries of his brother’s patience.

Tom cut him a look. ‘You have something to say about that?’

‘It’s strange, is all, Tommy. You and Mary ending up together.’

‘I thought you bet on us getting together. Won a whole heap of money from Niall and Sean when we got married, didn’t you?’

‘I did, but when I made the bet, I thought you might end up in the sack with her. I never for one minute thought you’d take her for your wife. I didn’t think she was your type or that you were hers for that matter. I thought yous two might have a few quick bunk-ups on the odd lonely evening and that’d be it.’

‘Oh, aye? So, you thought we’d be shag buddies but not husband and wife. Good to know you gave it that much thought. And what do you think my type is then?’

‘Sybil was your type. Petite, brunette, wanted to save the world. Apart from the colour of her hair, I don’t see that Mary is much like her.’

‘She’s not. But I wasn’t looking for Sybil Mark II if that’s what you think.’

‘No? Just an Aristo Mark II? You too grand for normal women now, are you?’

Tom narrowed his eyes at his brother. ‘What is this, Kieran? You don’t like Mary, is that it?’

Kieran shrugged. ‘I can’t say as I know her all that well. She’s perfectly polite and cordial whenever I see her, but her sort have that drummed into them, don’t they, so they don’t show up the family? I’ve always thought of her as a bit standoffish, snooty, you know?’

‘Then maybe you should make the effort to get to know her because that’s not who she is at all.’

‘Ah, don’t get your knickers in a twist, Tommy. I mean, she’s a fine-looking woman, I can’t blame you for wanting her in your bed. But this marriage of yours was awful quick and completely out of the blue. I mean, a quickie Vegas wedding? That has mistake written all over it. What is it they say? Act in haste, repent at leisure. All’s I’m saying is, are you sure you’ve not just mistaken a few rolls in the hay with your sister-in-law for something more because you’re lonely?’

Tom bristled, clenching his jaw. ‘You know nothing about it, Kieran.’

‘No? Then tell me different. Because Mammy’s worried you’re settling for friendship so’s you and Sybbie have a wee bit o’ security here at Downton. And I can’t say as I disagree with her.’

Tom shot his brother a look. ‘Mammy said that?’

‘Aye, she did. She’s probably up at that big house quizzing Mary about how yous two have found yourself in this position.’

‘Oh, Christ, she’s not, is she?’ Tom sighed, rolling his eyes. ‘I thought she was happy for me.’

‘She will be – we both will be – if we only know this is the real thing and not some weird attempt to fill the hole Sybil left in your life and your heart with her sister.’

‘Well, it’s not. Mary and me, it’s the real thing. I love her and she loves me.’

‘Aye, you say so, but do you really? Or is it just that you’ve got your wires crossed and your brother-in-law/sister-in-law dynamic has got all confused. I guess what I’m saying, Tommy, is: are you sure this is the right thing for you?’

Tom gritted his teeth, preparing to set his brother right on all counts. ‘Right, first off, Sybbie is granddaughter to the Earl of Grantham. While Robert has breath in his body, she’ll always have a home here. You don’t have to worry about us needing more security. We’ve got that in spades.’

‘Even when the lad inherits?’

‘Robert’s not that old and he’s healthy. George probably won’t inherit for years, but when he does, Sybbie's his cousin, but he thinks of her as his sister. He won’t turf her out.’

‘Aye, I heard the boy call you Dad. That’s new. It was Uncle Tom last I was here.’

‘That’s right. He started that up when Mary and I came home married. He thinks of me as his dad and I couldn’t be prouder of that.’

Kieran nodded, thoughtfully. ‘I can see that. And I see that he loves you. He always did.’

‘But you want to know if Mary and I have made some sort of pact to settle for each other? Because what? Because you think neither of us could be arsed to look outside the Abbey walls for a lover?’

‘I just… you seem an odd match, is all. The stuck-up English lady and the working-class Irish lad.’

‘Maybe, just maybe, neither of us are hung up on the class thing like you seem to be, Kieran. I mean, what is your problem? You hear her accent and assume she’s a dick? Is that it?’

‘I don’t know, Tommy, you tell me. Is she?’

‘Mary’s not perfect, she’d be the first to admit that. But then neither am I. And you’re certainly not perfect either. None of us are. But I love her. I’ve loved her for a long time now and it turns out that she loves me too, whether you believe that or not.’

‘And that’s for real, is it?’

Tom blew out a frustrated breath. ‘What do you want me to say to make you believe me? You know, brother, maybe if you shut your mouth for a while and opened your eyes, you’d see it for yourself. Everyone else seems to. Even Edith and she was definitely not on board with the idea of me and Mary being together.’

‘I only want you to be happy, Tommy. You’re my wee brother. I still feel like I need to look out for you.’

‘Well, I don’t need you looking out for me. I’m big enough and ugly enough to look after myself and my family. And Mary is my family now, more so than ever before. If I had to choose between you and her, I’d choose her every time.’

‘Well, that’s me told, isn’t it? You’d let her come between us?’

‘No, but I won’t let you come between me and her. Mary and the kids, they’re my world now, Kieran, and I won’t let anything threaten that. You’re supposed to be acting as my best man in a couple of days. If you want to step aside, tell me now and I’ll ask Thomas to do it instead.’

Kieran held up his hands in surrender. ‘No, no, keep your hair on, Tommy. I’m not saying I won’t support you. I just wanted to be sure that this is the real deal. You have to see how it might look strange from the outside. You never mentioned being in a relationship with Mary and then you came home from a business trip married to her.’

‘Yeah, we could have gone about it differently, I know that, but it happened like it happened. It doesn’t mean we don’t love each other. We’ve just done things in a different way to everyone else.’

‘All right, all right. I believe you. You’re mad for each other, the pair of yous. If you say that’s how it is, I’ll believe you. Of course, I’ll be your best man. And I’ll make an effort to get to know my new sister-in-law, I promise.’

‘Good, because she’s it for me. This is for keeps, no matter what you think. Just give her a chance.’

‘I will, I give you my word, Tommy.’

Tom gazed at his brother, trying to sniff out a lie, but eventually, he nodded. ‘Okay, thank you. I’d appreciate it if you would. Now, if Mammy is interrogating Mary, I think it’s time we went back to the house to see what’s what there.’

‘You afraid Mammy might upset your wife?’

‘Do you know, I’m not sure who would win in a fight between those two. And, if I’m honest, I’d rather not find out.’

‘Then we’d better get back and see if there’s been bloodshed.’

Tom nodded, getting to his feet. ‘If they’ve had a conversation along the same lines as ours, I think it will be fine. Mary will tell her the truth and Mammy will know how it is with us by now.’

‘Still, no harm in heading back to check, is there?’

‘No, no harm at all,’ Tom said with a small smile then raised his voice to shout over at the kids. ‘Sybbie! George! Time to go home!’

‘Five more minutes, Dad,’ George shouted from one of the aerial pathways.

‘Five more minutes and then we’re off. Donk said he’d made a cake we can have when we get back.’

George’s face lit up. ‘All right, I’ll be right down.’

Tom grinned at his brother. ‘The quickest way to get that boy to do what you want is to offer him food.’

Kieran returned his smile. ‘That’s the quickest way to get me to do what you want me to do too. Food or alcohol. I'll never say no to a pint or a wee dram.’

Tom laughed. ‘Good to know, brother. Good to know.’

Kieran looked over at Tom and bumped his shoulder with his own. ‘I’m sorry if I was hard on you then. Just want the best for you.’

Tom gave him a sideways glance. ‘I know you do. But I’m happy, I am. Happier than I’ve been since I lost Sybil. And that’s down to Mary, so please, if only for me, try to get to know her.’

‘I will. I’ll be on my best behaviour, I promise.’

‘Christ, don’t do that,’ Tom said, in mock alarm. ‘Mammy’ll think you’re dying or something.’

Kieran let out a startled laugh and turned to try and get Tom in a headlock. ‘Cheeky sod. You’re not too big for an arse-kicking, you know.’

Tom wriggled free and grinned at his brother. ‘Yeah? You and whose army?’

‘Right, that’s it!’ Kieran yelled, charging after his brother as Tom whipped around and started running up the path. ‘Come here, you little gobshite!’


	53. Chapter 53

Mary sat on their bed and watched Tom packing a small bag, a disconsolate frown on her face. 

‘I can’t help thinking it’s rather silly that you’re having to move out for the night.’

Tom looked over his shoulder at her as he zipped up his toiletry bag and dropped it into his backpack. ‘I know, darlin’, but we agreed to treat tomorrow as if it’s a wedding. If Sybbie has told me once, she’s told me fifty times that it’s unlucky for me to see you the night before the blessing. We're lucky she's let me stay at the Abbey instead of packing me off to The Grantham Arms. At least I can have dinner with you.’

‘I know, I know, but watching you pack is making me sad,’ Mary sighed, aware she was pouting like a child.

Tom turned around, resting his hands on his hips as he looked at his wife in amusement. ‘I’m only going back to my old room for one night, Mary.’

‘I know, but I don’t like it. I don’t want to sleep apart from you. And the bag makes it feel oddly final.’

‘The bag’s only so I don’t have to trail backwards and forwards carting stuff between rooms. It doesn’t mean anything. It’s not like I’m leaving you.’

‘You’d better not be,’ she said, narrowing her eyes at him. ‘If you try, I shall hunt you down, drag you back to my lair and keep you as my sex slave.’

Tom chuckled. ‘That sounds like a fate I would enjoy. Feel free to drag me to your lair and make me have sex with you whenever you feel like it.’

‘Why don’t you leave that bag alone for a bit and come over here?’ Mary said, beckoning him towards her. ‘We’ve got a few hours before Sybbie’s curfew kicks in.’

Tom grinned and walked over towards her. As soon as he was within touching distance, Mary leaned forward and grabbed hold of his belt, tugging him to stand between her legs. Tom let her manhandle him, putting his hands on her shoulders, gently rubbing the tops of her arms.

‘As much as I would love to spend the next few hours in bed with you, love, I don’t think we can. Not with Mammy and Kieran and his lot here. I can only leave them to their own devices for so long.’

Mary pouted a bit more. ‘Spoilsport.’

‘I’m sorry, sweetheart,’ Tom said, tipping her face up to look at him. ‘I promise to make it up to you tomorrow night.’

‘Well, it will be our wedding night – again. I expect to have your undivided attention.’

‘And you shall have it,’ Tom said, bending to kiss her gently on her lips.

‘While I have you to myself, there’s something I need to tell you.’

‘Oh, yes? You’re not leaving me, are you?’

‘No, far from it.' Mary hesitated for a few seconds, gazing up at him. 'Something happened this morning and, well, it might be nothing, but it might be something.’

Tom looked down at her in concern, his mind jumping to the possibility of his mother or brother shooting off their mouths again. ‘What happened? Did someone upset you?’

‘No, nothing like that. It was just that when I came downstairs for breakfast, you were making toast for the masses and I suddenly felt sick.’

‘Did you? You never said. Are you feeling all right now?’ Tom asked, putting his hand to her forehead, checking to feel how warm she was.

‘I’m fine, but I’ve felt like that before.’

‘Have you? Why didn’t you say? Do we need to get you an appointment with Dr Clarkson? I hope you’re not coming down with something, especially not with the blessing tomorrow.’

Mary bit back a smile as she watched him fret. ‘Tom, stop fussing and listen to me. I’ve felt like that before when I smelt toast.’

He looked at her, confused. ‘It was the smell of toast that made you feel ill?’

‘Yes, and the last time that happened, I found out I was pregnant with George.’

Tom stared at her. ‘You… you were… oh.’

Mary smiled gently at him. ‘Well, we have been not _not_ trying for a fair while now.’

Tom sat down on the bed beside her, looking a bit dazed.

‘Are you all right?’ Mary asked, brushing his hair from his forehead and taking his hand in hers.

‘I’m just a bit… you know, shocked.’

Mary gave a soft laugh. ‘I don’t know why. It’s not like you don’t know how much sex we’ve been having since, well, since we got our act together.’

‘But you haven’t done a test? You don’t know for sure?’

‘No, I didn’t want to do a test without you.’

Tom looked across at her. ‘Then we should get you one. I should go and get you one.’

Mary stopped him as he tried to stand up. ‘I have a test. There was more than one in that pack I bought after Vegas. If you look in the bottom drawer of my bedside cabinet, it should be in there.’

Tom gazed at her then leaned down and pulled open the drawer. He saw the box and picked it up, turning back to her.

‘Here.’

‘Do you want me to do it now? I didn’t know if you'd want to wait until after tomorrow.’

Tom stared at her like she’d asked him if he could juggle fireballs. ‘What? No! Mary, you can’t tell me you might be pregnant and then expect me to wait to find out.’ He thrust the box at her. ‘Do it. Do it now.’

Mary took the box, chuckling. She leaned forward to kiss him then stood up, heading for the en suite. ‘You are so impatient.’

‘Of course, I am! We might be having a baby!’

‘Right, well, if you can curb your impatience for as long as it takes for me to go pee on this stick, we’ll find out, shall we?’

‘Go,’ he said, making a shooing motion with his hands. ‘Pee fast.’

Mary chuckled again and disappeared into the bathroom.

Tom ran his hands through his hair, blowing out a long breath as he waited for her to come back, trying to calm his heart rate.

Mary reappeared after a couple of minutes, holding the stick.

‘Well?’

‘Patience, my love. We’ve got to give it a few minutes.’ Mary came over to the bed and put the stick on the bedside cabinet, picking up her phone and tapping it a few times. ‘There, I’ve set an alarm. When it goes off, we’ll know, one way or the other.’

She sat down next to him, taking his hand again. ‘Let’s talk about something else while we’re waiting. You know, Kieran has been falling over himself to be nice to me this last day or so. It’s almost been a bit unnerving. I’m not used to him seeking me out to talk to me.’

Tom chuckled, the sound rumbling through his chest. ‘Good. I’m glad to hear that.’

‘Did you tell him to make nice with me?’

‘He said he felt he didn’t know you very well, so I asked him to make the effort.’

‘Well, he’s definitely doing that. It feels like every time I turn around, he pops up in front of me.’

‘And is it working? Are you getting to know each other?’

‘I think maybe we are. We had a long conversation about you and your obsession with old cars yesterday. It was quite the bonding moment.’

‘You and Mammy seem to be getting along well, too.’

Mary nodded. ‘We are. I've always liked your mother, you know that, but I think our chat yesterday put her mind at rest. And I caught her watching us together a few times yesterday evening. I think she believes that I really do love you now.’

Tom grinned at her. ‘My family, eh? They are so suspicious.’

‘They just love you and want you to be happy. I can’t hold that against them,’ Mary said with a shrug. ‘Luckily, I love you too, so it’s not too much of a hardship to make sure they know that.’

Tom chuckled, squeezing her hand. ‘Oh, well, I’m glad to know I’m easy to love.’

‘You’re so easy to love that I still can’t believe how long it took me to realise I was in love with you,’ Mary said, softly, leaning in to kiss him. They were still kissing when her phone started buzzing.

They pulled apart and Mary reached for her phone, silencing it. She put it down and picked up the pregnancy test without looking at it.

‘Look together?’ she asked, quietly, watching as Tom nodded. ‘Ready? One, two, three.’

She held up the stick and they looked at it together, staring at the word on the screen.

‘Well,’ Mary said, her voice shaking slightly. ‘It looks like we’ll have an extra guest tomorrow.’

‘Oh, Mary,’ Tom breathed, turning to look at her, his eyes shining.

‘Are you happy?’ she whispered, meeting his gaze.

He nodded, slipping his arm around her waist and gently pulling her closer to him. He reached his other hand down to put it on her stomach. ‘Very happy.’

‘Good. Me too,’ she murmured as she kissed him, winding her arms around his neck and tipping them backwards onto the bed.

‘I can’t quite believe it,’ Tom said softly when they pulled apart. He looked down, putting his hand back on her stomach.

‘I can do another test if you want,’ Mary said, amused. ‘There’s another one left in the box.’

‘Maybe later. Just to be sure. How far along do you think you are?’

Mary wrinkled her nose, thinking about that. ‘Maybe five weeks or so. Not far.’

‘It’s too early to tell anyone then.’

‘Yes, far too early. I want to see Dr Clarkson and make sure everything is okay before we tell anyone.’

Tom nodded, still gazing at her stomach, stroking his hand over it. Mary watched him do it, smiling at him affectionately.

‘You can’t be doing that when we’re in company. It’ll be a dead giveaway.’

‘I know. Just let me enjoy doing it here while it’s just us.’

Mary reached out a hand and caught his chin, tilting his face up to look at her. ‘You can do that as much as you like when it’s just the two of us. I’m so glad you’re happy. I was a bit worried you might freak out.’

Tom gave her a rueful look. ‘Give me time and I probably will freak out at least a couple of times. Maybe not until you’re further along. I might be particularly freaked out when you get near having it.’

Mary nodded, her eyes dimming a little. ‘I know, my darling. We’ll take it all one step at a time. And Dr Clarkson will keep a close eye on me, you know he will. If there’s even the tiniest hint of anything being wrong, he’ll have me in the hospital before you can blink.’

‘I know. I do know all of that. And I know you’ve done this before. I just… I’m happy we’re having a baby. That’s all I want to think about at the moment.’

‘Then that’s all we’ll think about,’ Mary said, planting another kiss on his lips. ‘Look what we did, Tom.’

Tom chuckled and slid off the bed onto his knees. Mary propped herself up on her elbows to watch him as he lifted her top up gently and kissed her stomach.

‘Hello, little one,’ he said, softly. ‘This is your dad. You be good in there. No putting me and your mum through any unnecessary worry, okay? You’ll have plenty of time to give us the runaround once you’re born.’

Mary laughed and reached down to put her hand on top of his head. ‘Why do I get the feeling you’re going to be having regular conversations with my stomach for the next eight months or so?’

Tom looked up at her indignantly. ‘I’m not talking to your stomach, Mary, I’m talking to our child. I’m getting them used to the voice of authority right from the get-go.’

Mary laughed again, stroking her hand down the side of his face. ‘Oh, is that what you’re doing? What makes you think you’re the voice of authority around here? Sybbie can wrap you around her little finger without breaking a sweat and you cave to George in about ten seconds flat. What makes you think it will be any different with this one? If anyone is the voice of authority in this family, it’s me.’

‘Pfft, whatever,’ Tom said, turning his attention back to her stomach. ‘Don’t listen to your mum. She likes to think she’s in charge, but she’s a bit of a soft touch too, you know. Now, as I was saying, you be good in there. We’re excited to meet you and introduce you to your big brother and sister.’

Mary dropped back down onto the bed, listening to Tom’s soft voice as he chatted to their baby, her smile wide and her heart full.


	54. Chapter 54

Sitting on the edge of her bed, Mary heard her mother’s voice before she saw her.

‘Can you get the door for me, Sybbie, please? No, knock first, so Mummy knows we’re here.’

Sybbie obviously thought a knock wasn’t enough, accompanying the knock with a window-rattling yell. ’MUMMY! WAKE UP! WE’RE BRINGING YOU BREAKFAST!’

Mary smiled at Sybbie’s exuberance and excitement as she swung the door wide open and skipped into the room, leaving her grandmother to trail behind her with a breakfast tray.

Mary smelt the toast before she saw the contents of the tray. She twisted her head away to close her eyes and breathe deeply through her nose, trying to get the swell of nausea under control before either of her visitors spotted it. She didn’t quite manage it.

‘Mary? Are you quite all right?’ Cora asked as she put the tray down on the end of the bed. ‘Are you feeling sick?’

Sybbie rushed round the bed, running up to Mary, putting her hand on her knee, and thrusting her little face up close to Mary’s, eyes wide with worry. ‘You’re not feeling sick, are you?’

Mary swallowed hard and mustered a smile, putting her hand out to cup Sybbie’s face. ‘I’m fine, darling.’

‘Are you sure, Mummy? Because you can’t be poorly. Not today,’ Sybbie said, anxiously.

‘Don’t worry, poppet, I’m perfectly all right, I promise. Now, tell me, have you seen Daddy yet today? How is he?’

‘He’s downstairs with Uncle Kieran eating the most enormous cooked breakfast I’ve ever seen. He said to give you a kiss for him,’ Sybil said giving Mary the promised kiss, relieved the day she’d been looking forward to for months wasn’t going to be spoiled.

‘Sybbie, why don’t you go and get your own breakfast?’ Cora said, eyeing Mary carefully. ‘You said you’d go back downstairs after you’d helped me, so Daddy’s probably making it for you now.’

‘All right. I’ll come back afterwards, okay, Mummy? Shall I give Daddy a kiss from you too?’

‘Yes, you do that. A great big one. Tell him I can’t wait to see him.’

Sybbie grinned and took off, barrelling out of the room.

‘Right, and now you’re going to tell me the truth,’ Cora said when she was sure her granddaughter was out of earshot.

‘I’m fine, Mama,’ Mary insisted.

‘You didn’t look it when we came in. You looked decidedly nauseous.’

‘It’s probably just nerves.’

‘Hmmm. Here, have a bit of toast. It might calm your stomach if you’re feeling queasy’ Cora said, picking up the plate of toast and offering it to Mary, who couldn’t conceal her reaction. ‘There, I knew it. You’re not all right.’

‘I am. I am. Just please, take the toast away,’ Mary pleaded, pushing the plate away and turning her head.

‘Toast? It’s the toast that’s making you queasy?’ Cora said, narrowing her eyes, her mind working overtime. ‘Mary, are you expecting?’

Mary whipped her head around, looking at her mother in shock. ‘What? Mama! Why would you say that?’

Cora gazed at her, an excited smile tugging at her lips. ‘Because you couldn’t stand the smell of toast when you were pregnant with George.’

‘You… you remember that?’ Mary said, in surprise.

‘Yes, I do, because I was exactly the same when I was pregnant with each of you three girls. It made my stomach roll horribly. Darling, am I right? Are you expecting?’

Mary bit her lip, not wanting to give up their secret without Tom, but she knew the cat was out of the bag. ‘Yes, I am.’

Cora gave her a delighted smile. ‘Wait one minute while I dispose of the toast and then I want you to tell me everything.’

With that, she turned on her heel, the plate of toast in her hand, and strode to Mary’s bedroom window. She opened the casing and threw the toast out of the window, shutting it firmly afterwards.

‘Mama! What are you doing?’ Mary said, laughing as her mother put the plate down on her dressing table and walked back over to her. ‘You can’t go around throwing toast from the window!’

‘Oh, pfft, it’s only bread. The birds will eat it. It was the quickest way I could think of to get rid of it. I don’t want you feeling sick because you can still smell it. I remember that feeling all too well.’ Cora perched on the edge of the bed, taking one of Mary’s hands in her own. ‘Oh, darling, I’m so happy for you. Now, tell me. When did you find out?’

‘Yesterday.’

‘Goodness! So, you’re still getting used to the idea, then?’

Mary nodded. ‘It’s still sinking in, yes. It’s very early days, Mama, so please don’t say anything to anyone. Not even Papa, not just yet.’

Cora nodded, squeezing Mary’s hands. ‘I won’t, I promise. Although it may be the hardest secret I’ve ever had to keep! What about Tom? I take it he knows?’

‘Yes, he was with me when I did the test.’

‘And how is he? Is he all right about it?’

‘Yes, he’s happy,’ Mary said, putting her mother’s mind at rest. ‘He’s nervous, I think, but at the moment, the happiness trumps the nerves. You might have to help me reassure him at times, but I’ve promised I will do everything Dr Clarkson tells me to do.’

‘Yes, my girl, you certainly will. We’re taking no chances, not after…’ Cora trailed off, unable to voice the tragedy they’d suffered after Sybbie’s birth.

Mary saw the pain on her mother’s face and reached out, hugging her close. ‘Don’t, Mama. Don’t even think it. I’ve done this once before with no issues, remember? I can’t have you falling apart on me as well as Tom as I get further along. I’ll need your help to calm him if he worries or panics. But I’ll promise you just like I promised him that I will take no chances. Not a single one. If Dr Clarkson tells me to spend the next eight months flat on my back in bed, I will. I promise.’

Cora nodded into Mary’s shoulder, sniffing back tears. ‘I’m sorry, darling. I will be positive about this and I will help you to reassure Tom. It’s just… sometimes, it overwhelms me, you know? What happened with Sybil. As happy as I am about this new addition to the family, I can’t help but be a little worried.’

‘I know. I understand, I do. But I’m not Sybil. And forewarned is forearmed, isn’t it?’

Cora sat up straight, putting her hand on Mary’s cheek. ‘Yes, you’re right. We must look forward, not back. A new baby in the nursery. A spring baby too unless I much mistaken.’

‘I think so. I can’t think I’m much more than five weeks, so that would make me due late April or early May. Dr Clarkson will give me a better idea, but that’s my guess.’

‘Sometime around your father’s birthday then. He will be tickled pink about that,’ Cora said, smiling. ‘He’s going to be so excited.’

Mary cocked her head to one side. ‘Do you think we should tell him? Just Papa. Nobody else.’

Cora beamed at her daughter. ‘I think he would be thrilled if you did. And he won’t breathe a word if you tell him not to, you know that.’

‘Then maybe I will. Although I think I will have to clear it with Tom first. He might not want me to, especially if his mother doesn’t know.’

Cora reached out, tucking a strand of hair behind Mary’s ear, smiling gently at her. ‘How your life has changed in the last year, Mary. Last September, Tom was just your brother-in-law and now look at you both. Madly in love, married and expecting a baby. I never would have foreseen this.’

‘Me neither. If I hadn’t been so blind, we could have been this happy together for much longer.’

‘No, darling, no ifs or buts. I firmly believe things have happened between you as they were meant to. Be thankful for what you have and not what you think you may have missed.’

‘Oh, believe me, Mama, I am. Every day, I wake up and think how lucky I am. This baby is the cherry on the cake.’

‘And today you’re having your marriage blessed.’

‘I know. As much as I hate to admit it, I think Granny was right all along about the blessing. It feels like the right thing to do.’ Mary gave her mother a stern look. ‘If you tell her I said that, I shall deny it with every breath in my body.’

‘My lips are sealed,’ Cora said, with a chuckle. ‘I wouldn’t want to give her any more reason than she already has to believe she’s always right. Now, come on, look at the time. Anna will be here soon, plus the hairdresser and beautician. You’d better get in the shower before they all arrive to turn you into a beautiful bride.’

‘It’s a good job you got rid of that toast, otherwise they might have had an even tougher job on their hands with me dry retching all the time. They have their work cut out for them enough as it is,’ Mary said, with a wry grin.

‘Nonsense. You, my beautiful girl, are going to make a radiant bride.’

‘And you, Mama, are terribly biased.’

‘No, just truthful. Now, I will leave you to shower. I’ll bring Anna up when she arrives.’ Cora leaned forward and pressed a kiss to Mary’s forehead. ‘It’s a good job you’re only five weeks along after all the work Anna has put into that gorgeous dress of yours. There’d be no hiding a bump in that.’

‘Well, I have always had impeccable timing,’ Mary joked.

‘Oh, darling, you mean you’ve always managed to just get away with things by the skin of your teeth, and here is an example in action.’

‘Let’s hope the baby doesn’t have a growth spurt in the next few hours then.’

Cora smiled. ‘Go. Shower. I have toast to pick up.’

‘Good luck explaining that,’ Mary chuckled as she got to her feet to start getting ready for her big day.


	55. Chapter 55

Anna bent to pull out the short train on Mary’s dress then straightened to circle her, eyeing her critically.

‘Will I do?’

Anna narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips, taking in the full vision, then broke into a smile, nodding her head. ‘You look stunning. That dress is perfect on you, even if I do say so myself.’

Mary looked over her shoulder into the full-length mirror, admiring the graceful cowl back, draping perfectly and dipping down to the small of her back, the way the dress hugged her hips and bottom, fabric-covered buttons tracing a seam from underneath the cowl to the floor, the material falling into a gentle flare with the slight train behind her.

It wasn’t exactly how she’d pictured it in her mind’s eye, but where she’d seen a simple column dress, Anna had persuaded her to soften the angles with the flare and train and it worked. Anna had taken her vision and made it better.

‘Anna, there aren’t words enough to thank you for this,’ Mary said, turning back to her friend and reaching out a hand to her. ‘You’ve gone above and beyond and I’m so incredibly grateful to you.’

Anna grasped her hand, beaming at her. ‘You are welcome. I really enjoyed making this for you. It’s probably the most sophisticated dress I’ve ever made.’

‘I would say you’re wasted at Downton, but you’ve proven your worth there too,’ Mary said, with a smile. ‘You’re just an all-round genius really. Is there anything you can’t do?’

‘Well, I can’t sing for toffee and I don’t think I can fly, but other than that, no?’ Anna replied, laughing. ‘I’m so glad you're happy with it.’

‘I’m more than happy with it, I’m ecstatic. I could never have found anything like this in a bridal boutique. It’s perfect, absolutely perfect.’

‘Let’s hope Tom thinks so too. Although, I’m pretty sure he will approve of the back of the dress,’ Anna said, favouring Mary with a cheeky wink.

‘I should hope so. That’s all for him,’ Mary grinned, casting a look over her shoulder again.

Voices drifted down the corridor outside, then the door of her room opened and her mother appeared, herding Sybbie in front of her.

Cora stopped dead as she saw Mary standing there in her dress. ‘Oh,’ she said, her face going soft and her eyes filling with tears. ‘Oh.’

‘Mummy, you look lovely,’ Sybbie breathed, her eyes wide. ‘It’s so beautiful.’

‘Thank you, darling’ Mary said, smiling at Sybbie. She looked up at her mother. ‘Mama?’

‘It’s… it’s divine. You look… oh, Mary, you look exquisite,’ Cora said, collecting herself. ‘Anna. Anna, you are an artist. Truly. That dress is a work of art.’

Anna blushed, barely able to keep the smile off her face. ‘Thank you.’

‘We came to tell you the cars are here. There’s one for me, Sybbie, Anna and Thomas, and one for you and your father.’

‘Well, we’d better go then, hadn’t we? It won’t do to keep Tom waiting.’

Mary turned to check her reflection again from the front as Sybbie, Anna and Cora left the room, then followed them out to where Thomas was waiting for her at the top of the stairs, her bouquet in his hands.

His mouth fell open as she walked towards him. ‘Bloody hell, Crawley, I was not expecting that. Red, eh? Well, you are working that colour, I’ll give you that.’

‘You like it?’

‘You look fabulous. Completely and utterly fabulous,’ Thomas said, walking around her in a circle. ‘Jeez, look at the back on this thing. If I wasn’t irredeemably bent, I’d be tempted to go straight for you in this dress.’

‘Wow, high praise, indeed,’ Mary said, grinning at him in delight.

‘Poor Tommy boy isn’t going to know what hit him. I’ll give you good odds, he’s going to cream his pants when he sees you in that,’ Thomas said, winking at her. ‘That’ll be awkward at the altar.’

Mary giggled, thwacking him gently on his arm. ‘Thomas! Always lowering the tone!’

‘Nah, mate, I just know how hot for each other you two are,’ Thomas chuckled, handing her her bouquet. ‘Here take these. A Lancastrian lad like me shouldn’t be holding the white roses of Yorkshire for this long. Me skin’ll blister.’

Mary took her flowers, the simple white of the roses and green foliage, complementing her dress perfectly.

‘Come on, then,’ Thomas said, holding out his arm for her. ‘Lord G is waiting for you downstairs.’

Mary took his arm and bent to lift the hem of her dress slightly to help her negotiate the stairs. Thomas craned his neck around to peer down at her over his shoulder. ‘Just so you know, your arse looks amazing. Branson’s definitely popping a boner in the church.’

Mary let out a low laugh as she straightened up. ‘If he does, I will take it as a compliment of the highest order. Now, shut that dirty mouth of yours and take me to my father.’

‘As you wish, milady,’ Thomas said, leading her down the stairs.

Mary watched her papa’s face as she came down the stairs, the surprise at the colour of her dress and then the wide, proud smile as she got closer to him. Thomas leaned in and kissed her on the cheek, nodding at Lord Grantham before leaving them alone at the bottom of the stairs.

‘Oh, Mary, you look so very beautiful.’

‘Thank you, Papa.’

‘I think you’re going to take Tom’s breath away. In fact, I think you going to take a lot of people’s breath away.’

Mary smiled at him. ‘Well, you’re definitely saying all the right things, Papa.’

‘And I mean every one of them, my darling girl. Now, shall we make tracks?’

Mary nodded and took his arm.

* * *

Standing at the door of the church, Mary had never felt more relaxed. She watched as Sybbie took a deep breath and set off down the aisle in her custom-made bridesmaid dress followed by Anna and Thomas walking arm in arm. And then it was her turn to make her way down the aisle on the arm of her father.

Up at the altar, Tom waited with Kieran and George beside him, both acting as best man. He turned as she rounded the corner to start down the main drag of the aisle.

His face as he saw her was an image she thought she would probably take to her grave. His eyes widened and his jaw dropped, then he broke into the widest, happiest smile she thought she’d ever seen.

She smiled back at him as she sashayed towards him, feeling every inch the most beautiful and loved woman in the world.

‘Wow,’ he said as she drew level with him. Then he caught sight of the back of her dress, and she saw his eyes widen again, his lips parting. ‘Oh, my God. You are going to be the death of me, but I'll die happy, that much I know.’

Mary slid him a sideways glance and a brilliant smile, reaching down to take his hand, as the vicar began to take them through the ceremony.

* * *

Thomas swiped a fresh glass of champagne from a passing waiter and turned back to Anna.

‘So, if this one here,‘ he said, hitching his thumb at Richard standing next to him, ‘ever proposes to me, Batesy, I want you to make my wedding dress too. Not that it will be a dress, of course. Outfit. Wedding outfit. Because you played a blinder today.’

Anna grinned, pleased as Punch by all the compliments she’d been getting since people found out she was the designer and seamstress responsible for the bride’s dress.

‘You really did,’ John said, wrapping his arm around her shoulder and hugging her to him. ‘I am so proud of you.’

Anna beamed up at him, hooking her arm around his waist, and then turned her attention back to Thomas. ‘Why does he have to propose to you? You could always ask him, you know.’

Thomas stared at her, speechless for once, while Richard unfurled a slow smile at Anna.

‘Good point, well made, Mrs Bates,’ Richard said, lifting his glass to her. ‘What do you say to that, Thomas?’

‘I say… I say… well, wouldn’t you have mentioned it by now if you were interested in marrying me?’ Thomas sputtered, uncharacteristically flustered.

‘You’ve never mentioned it either,’ Richard replied, calmly.

Thomas stared at him. ‘What are you saying? Are you interested?’

‘Oh, I’m definitely interested in you, you know that, but what exactly are you asking me here?’ Richard said, lifting an enquiring eyebrow.

Thomas swallowed, then licked his lips, still staring at Richard. ‘I’m asking you if you want to marry me.’

Richard reached out his hand, taking hold of Thomas’ chin. ‘If that’s a proposal, the answer’s yes.’

Thomas made a small noise in his throat then thrust his champagne glass at Anna, lunging forward when she took it to grab the lapels of Richard’s jacket and haul him into a kiss.

‘Do you mean it?’ Thomas said, breathlessly, when he pulled back.

‘I wouldn’t say it if I didn’t mean it,’ Richard said, smiling back at him. ‘Of course, I want to marry you, you idiot. You’re the love of my life.’

Thomas dragged him forward again, kissing him once more.

‘What’s going on here, then?’ Mary said, appearing next to them. ‘I thought public displays of affection were my job today.’

‘I think Thomas and Richard just got engaged!’ Anna told her gleefully just as the two men broke apart.

Mary’s mouth dropped open. ‘Really? Oh, my God! That’s brilliant! Congratulations!’

‘I can’t believe it,’ Thomas whispered, reaching down to take Richard’s hand. ‘I can’t believe it.’

‘Believe it, babe. I intend to make an honest man of you,’ Richard told him with a grin. ‘I might even take you to the Black Swan to celebrate.’

Mary grinned as Thomas leaned in to press another kiss on Richard’s lips. ‘Tom will be relieved to hear that. Especially if it gets him off the hook.’

Thomas frowned at her. ‘Er, no, I don’t think so. He owes me lunch and we’ve got a reservation in a couple of weeks that he’s not wriggling out of.’

‘Who’s not wriggling out of what?’ Tom said, sliding up behind Mary, his hand going to the bare skin at the small of her back, making her breath hitch slightly.

‘Lunch. You and me at the Black Swan,’ Thomas said, accusingly. ‘Don’t even think about it.’

‘Er, I wasn’t,’ Tom said, a bit taken aback. ‘It’s in the diary. You know it is.’

‘Good.’

Tom gave Thomas a slightly confused look then turned to Mary. ‘Right, well, weird as this conversation has been, we’re wanted elsewhere. More pictures, I think.’

Mary nodded then stepped forward and kissed both Thomas and Richard on the cheeks. ‘Congratulations. I’m really happy for you.’

Tom looked at her, a question on his face. She took his hand and began moving away, pulling him with her. ‘I’ll tell you on the way. Come on.’

Thomas watched her go, then turned to Anna. ‘So, do you think you can make me look as hot as you’ve made Mary look for my big day?’

‘I don’t think you could pull off the cowl back as well as she does, Thomas,’ Anna deadpanned.

‘Oh, I don’t know,’ Richard remarked. ‘My boy has quite the sexy back.’

Thomas preened as Anna laughed and John rolled his eyes, chuckling. ‘And that is why I’m marrying him,’ he said, smugly.


	56. Chapter 56

Mary opened her eyes and smiled to see Tom back in his rightful place in the bed next to her. He was propped up on his pillow, looking at his phone.

‘It’s the morning after our second wedding. Shouldn’t you be paying more attention to me than your phone?’ she said, reaching out to run her fingers over his stomach.

‘Good morning, Mrs Branson,’ he said, leaning sideways to kiss her, a big smile on his face. ‘You looked so peaceful; I didn’t want to wake you up. We had such a long, busy day yesterday. Today, you can relax. Besides, I am paying attention to you in a way. I’m looking up how big our extra guest is right now.’

Mary smiled, a flutter of excitement zipping through her as she remembered their secret. ‘Oh, yes? How big is it then?’

‘Guess.’

‘Hmm, the size of a walnut?’

‘Not even close. It says here a five-week foetus is the size of an apple pip. An apple pip! I mean, that is tiny. I did all that talking to it the other day and it might not even have ears yet.’

Mary laughed. ‘No, probably not. You’ll have to look up when ears are scheduled to arrive and do the whole voice of authority speech again.’

Tom’s lips twitched into a smile. ‘Ah, so, at last, you admit I am the voice of authority after all.’

‘Nice try, darling, but that’s not what I said,’ Mary replied, with a grin. ‘But if you want to go on pretending you are, you go right ahead. I don't mind you having your little fantasy.’

Tom narrowed his eyes at her then looked back at his phone. ‘It says the liver and kidneys are beginning to form at five weeks. No mention of ears though. Next week, it will be the size of a sweet pea and will start to develop eyes, nose, tongue and vocal cords. Huh, you’d think ears would be around the same time, wouldn’t you? Still no mention of them though.’

‘If it's got a tongue and vocal cords, maybe it will start talking to you before it can hear you talking to it.’

Tom looked across at her in alarm. ‘Christ, don’t say that. That’d be like something out of a horror film. A disembodied voice coming at me out of your tummy. I’d be worried we were expecting the next Damien.’

Mary chuckled. ‘So, I can cross that off the list as a potential name then?’

‘Too bloody right. Ah, look, it says hearing starts to develop at fifteen weeks when it's the size of an actual apple rather than just a pip. The wee one will be able to hear your heartbeat then. Fifteen weeks? That’s ages away! I’ve got plenty to say to it in the next ten weeks and it won’t be able to hear me until then?’

‘That’s not what you said. You said it would be able to hear my heartbeat. That’s inside me, same as the baby. It might not be able to hear anything from the outside world by then.’

Tom pursed his lips considering that, then went back to scrolling the webpage. ‘Yeah, you’re right. It has to be the size of a cauliflower before the ears develop.'

Mary snorted. 'Cauliflower sized before it gets ears? That's oddly appropriate. Especially with a rugby-loving father. Let's hope it never actually gets cauliflower ears.'

Tom rolled his eyes, ignoring her lame joke. 'According to this, that’s at 27 weeks.’

‘So, it won’t be able to hear any paternal wisdom for another five months or so then,’ Mary said in amusement, doing a quick calculation. ‘Oh, Tom. Will you be able to wait that long? You might do yourself a mischief bottling up all those pearls of wisdom for that long.’

Tom looked at her, then chucked his phone on the bedside cabinet before rolling over to wrap an arm around her, pulling her closer into his body.

‘Are you taking the piss out of me? The day after our second wedding? And only two days after finding out you’re having my baby?’

Mary giggled, putting her hand on his cheek and snuggling up tight against him. ‘Me? Noooo. Would I ever take the piss out of you, my darling?’

‘Only every bloody chance you get,’ he said with a grin. 'And I'm going to carry on chatting to Pip even if they can't hear me. That way maybe it won't startle them when they can hear me. Plus, who knows, we may be having a child prodigy who can hear super early.'

Mary smiled. 'You just like the sound of your own voice. And Pip? Is that what we're calling it now?'

Tom nodded. 'Seems appropriate, doesn't it? I know it's going to get bigger, but it was the size of an apple pip when we first found out about it.'

'All right, I'll go with Pip while it's in utero. Don't go thinking we'll actually be calling it that though. I'm sure that will change when it arrives.

'I know. We'll have to get our thinking caps on,' Tom said then paused, cocking his head slightly. ‘Ooo, hang on. I think something else has already changed.’

‘What? What’s changed?’

Tom peered down between them. ‘I think your boobs have already got bigger.’

Mary looked down at her boobs squished up against his chest, frowning. ‘No, I don’t think they have.’

‘Yes, I think they have,’ Tom insisted, having a good gawp.

‘I think that’s just wishful thinking on your part.’

‘No, no, I definitely think they have. I tell you what, I’ll conduct a scientific experiment to find out who’s right,’ he said, pushing her on her back and rolling on top of her. He shuffled down the bed a bit until he was at eye level with her chest. He tilted his head, squinting at her boobs, examining them carefully.

'Well, step one of the test, and if I was pushed, I'd have to say they look a bit bigger.'

'They look the same as ever to me.'

‘And that, my love, is why we need to move on to step two,’ he said, kneeling up between her legs. He brought his hands to his mouth and blew on them, rubbing them together. ‘Preparing the testing instruments.’

Mary laughed, her face alive with amusement as she watched him.

‘Step three: the touch test,’ he said, reaching down to cup her breasts, a look of careful consideration on his face. He jiggled them a bit, making Mary laugh, then rubbed his thumbs over her nipples, making her catch her breath.

‘Definitely more of a handful than usual,’ he pronounced, nodding his head. ‘I told you.’

‘I still think it’s just wishful thinking.’

‘Oh, do you? Right, well, now we move to step four of the experiment.’

‘Step four? What’s that then?’

Tom grinned and quirked an eyebrow at her. ‘The mouth test.’

With that, he settled himself on top of her and sucked a nipple into his mouth. Mary inhaled sharply and let out a little moan.

‘Oh, God,’ she murmured, arching her back slightly as a jolt of desire shot from her nipple to her loins.

‘No trying to cheat the test by wriggling about,’ Tom scolded around a mouthful of breast. Mary shuddered as the vibrations from his voice hit her sensitive skin. He stayed in situ, lavishing attention on her breast for a good long while until he pulled off and grinned up at her.

‘Well? What’s the verdict? Are they bigger?’ Mary asked, a little breathlessly.

‘Patience, my love. I’ve only tested one of them. I’ve got to do the other one before I can make a balanced assessment,’ he said, waggling his eyebrows at her before dipping his head to lick up the swell of her other boob, from the base to the nipple, curling his tongue around the hard little bud before sucking on it.

Mary began to writhe underneath him as he set about conducting his test, delighting in the sensations he was stirring up throughout her body. Eventually, Tom gave a last kiss to her nipple then raised his head and grinned at her.

‘You’re not very good at staying still when I’m being all scientific. You could be ruining my test.’

‘Then you’ll just have to do it again, won’t you?’ Mary said, fervently hoping he would. ‘I don’t know whether they’re any bigger, but I think they might be a bit more sensitive than usual.’

‘Excellent,’ said Tom, swiping his thumb over her hard, wet nipple and grinning in delight as Mary shuddered underneath him. ‘And for the record, I do think they are bigger. Definitely more of a mouthful. But I think I should do a thorough test at least once a week to check the progress.’

‘Make it daily and I’ll even call you Doctor Branson if you want me to,’ Mary said, groaning again as he continued to play with her nipples.

Tom chuckled. ‘Kinky. I didn’t know you had a thing for doctors.’

‘I have a thing for you,’ Mary told him, arching up into his hands again.

‘Good, because the feeling is entirely mutual,’ he said, his eyes going soft. ‘Right, now I think I should check that no apple pips have fallen out of you with all that wriggling around you've been doing.’

Mary looked down to see him kissing his way down her body, licking and sucking as he went.

‘Oh, God, this is why I love waking up with you,’ she gasped, already beginning to writhe against the sheets again. ‘Don’t ever sleep apart from me again.’

‘I won’t. Not if I can help it,’ he replied, tracing his tongue along her inner thigh.

Mary shivered, moaning. 'Oh, I love you, you know that, don't you?'

'I do, but I like hearing you say it,' Tom chuckled, leaning in between her legs. 'Pip, shut your eyes. This part of the proceedings is just between me and your mum.'

Mary laughed for a few seconds until Tom stole her breath away once again.


	57. Chapter 57

‘So, you’re not any closer to fixing a date then?’ Anna said, eyeing Thomas over the rim of her coffee mug.

‘No, not until we pin down a venue,’ he said, dunking his biscuit in his mug of tea. ‘We can’t set a date until we do that.’

‘And you’re sure you don’t want to get hitched here at Downton? I’m sure we could do you mates' rates, couldn’t we, Tom?’ Anna said, bringing Tom into the conversation.

He looked up from his screen and nodded. ‘Yeah, of course.’

Thomas shrugged. ‘Well, Richard’s up for that but I’m a bit worried it might feel a bit too much like being at work. No offence, Tom.’

‘None taken,’ Tom said, picking his phone up as it rang. ‘Sorry, got to get this, it’s Mary. Hello, darlin’.’

‘Maybe you should talk to Mary about-‘ Anna started, breaking off when Tom’s tone on his phone call changed.

‘Sybbie? Sybbie! Sybbie! Calm down, love. I can’t understand what you’re saying. What’s happened?’

Thomas and Anna exchanged a look.

Tom stood up abruptly, talking urgently into his phone. ‘Where are you? Right, don’t cry, darlin’. I’m coming, I’m coming. Don’t try to move her, just keep talking to her. I’ll be there in a few minutes. Daddy’s coming, darlin’.’

He hung up, his face as white as a sheet.

‘What’s up? What’s happened?’ Thomas asked, worriedly.

‘Mary’s fallen off her horse. They’re down near the old repair shop,’ Tom said, grabbing his jacket from the back of his chair and looking frantically around him for his keys. 'Sybbie says… Sybbie says…’

‘What?’

‘She says she can’t wake Mary up,’ Tom said, worry all over his face. ’Where the fuck are my keys?!?’

Anna picked up the phone. ‘By the old repair shop? I’ll call an ambulance. Get them to meet you there.’

Thomas grabbed his own jacket. ‘Your keys are under that pile of post. I’ll come with you. I can look after Sybbie while you take care of Mary.’

‘I told her not to go riding. I told her I didn’t want her risking it, but would she listen?’ Tom muttered, angrily, flipping the envelopes off his desk and snatching up his car keys.

‘Tom, Mary’s been riding since she was younger than Sybbie. This is just an accident.’

‘She’s pregnant!’ Tom roared, glaring at Thomas. ‘She shouldn’t be risking it!’

Anna glanced over at him, shock on her face as she spoke to the 999 operator, giving all the details, relaying the new information that the patient was pregnant.

‘How far gone is she?’ Anna asked, focusing on the task at hand.

‘Eleven weeks. We’ve got the 12-week scan next week,’ Tom answered, his voice cracking.

Thomas walked around his desk, putting his hand on the back of Tom’s neck, trying to calm him and offer support. ‘Right, let’s go and see what’s what. Anna will get the paramedics to come out to her and we’ll take it one step at a time, yes?’

Tom nodded, holding onto Thomas’s bicep to steady himself for a few seconds, then taking off out of the office at top speed, Thomas hot on his heels.

‘Thomas! Call me when you know what’s happening,’ Anna called after then, getting a wave over the shoulder from Thomas as he disappeared out from her line of sight.

Thomas barely had the door of the Range Rover shut before Tom pulled out, flooring it out of the office car park and speeding through the narrow country lanes, covering the few miles between the office and the old repair shop in record time as Thomas took a call from Anna telling them the ambulance was on its way.

As they approached, they could see the two horses, Sybbie’s pony and Mary’s larger horse, in the field beyond the repair shop, a still form on the ground, a smaller one crouched over it.

‘Holy Mary, Mother of God,’ Tom muttered. ‘This can’t be happening. This can’t be happening. Not again.’

Thomas glanced sideways at his friend, already reaching to unclip his seat belt and open the car door as Tom pulled to a halt. ‘I’ll open the gate, so you can drive up to them. Just try not to startle the horses. We don’t need a trampling situation.’

Tom rolled through the gate when Thomas pushed it open and pulled up about ten metres from Mary and Sybbie, practically throwing himself from the car and sprinting across to his wife and daughter. Thomas followed, running from the gate.

‘Daddy!’ Sybbie screamed, scrambling up and throwing herself at Tom, tears rolling down her face. He scooped her up but didn’t stop moving, heading for Mary.

‘Are you good, Sybbie? Are you okay? You’re not hurt?’ he asked, glancing at her and giving her a quick once over.

‘No, but Mummy… Mummy…’ she sobbed.

Tom reached Mary’s side and fell to his knees, setting Sybbie down. ‘Mary! Mary!’ he cried, desperately. ‘Mary, darlin’?’

Thomas arrived beside them, kneeling down to take the sobbing Sybbie in his arms, hugging her as she wound her little arms around his neck. ‘Hush now, my precious girl. You stay with your Uncle Thomas while your daddy sees how your mum’s doing.’

‘Mary, darlin’, can you hear me?’ Tom said, fear thick in his voice, as he stroked Mary’s face. To his utter relief, her eyelids began to flutter. ‘Don’t move, sweetheart, don’t try to move.’

Mary opened her eyes, staring up at the sky above her in confusion, swivelling her eyes to her husband’s worried face as he knelt beside her. She swallowed, feeling pain, not quite sure what had happened.

‘You came off your horse,’ Tom told her, his voice gentle, his fingers stroking her face. ‘You lost consciousness.’

‘Sybbie,’ Mary muttered, remembering she’d been with their daughter. ‘Is Sybbie okay?’

‘She’s fine, love. She’s here. She called me. What about you? Are you hurt? Have you got any pain anywhere?’

Mary lay still, trying to work out where the pain was coming from. Tom took her hand where it lay on the ground and she yelped as her arm moved. ‘My arm! My arm!’

Tom let go of her hand immediately, scared to cause her more pain. ‘Try not to move, darlin’. There’s an ambulance on the way.’

Mary tried to move her head and thought better of it when she felt pain ripping through her. She glanced over at Tom, panic on her face. ‘The baby.’

He leaned forward, gently stroking her cheek with his knuckle. ‘I don’t know, darlin’. Let’s just wait for the ambulance, eh?’

Mary’s eyes filled with tears, her lips wobbling.

‘Hush, love, hush. Just you concentrate on staying as still as you can,’ Tom murmured, brushing a soft kiss on her lips.

Thomas watched them, Sybbie in his arms, desperate to distract them as much as he could until the ambulance arrived.

‘Do you remember what happened?’ he asked, stepping closer so Mary could see him and Sybbie without moving.

‘Not… not really,’ she said, her voice wobbly.

‘It was a fox,’ Sybbie said, from her perch in Thomas’s arms. ‘It ran out in front of Diamond and he reared up and Mummy came off backwards.’

‘A fox,’ Mary murmured, getting a vague flash of a streak of red coming out of the hedgerow.

‘Yes, it just ran out and frightened Diamond.’

‘And what happened then, poppet?’ Tom asked, moving around Mary to cautiously take hold of the hand that didn’t appear to hurt her.

‘I jumped down off Bonita and went to Mummy, but you weren’t answering me, Mummy, even though I was shouting, and I was so frightened,’ Sybbie said, her voice thick with tears as she struggled not to cry again. ‘Then I got your phone out of your pocket and rang Daddy.’

‘Clever girl,’ Thomas told her, tapping her gently on her nose. ‘You’re a clever girl, getting help like that.’

Tom nodded up at his daughter. ‘You are, Sybbie. I’m so proud of you for being so calm and thinking to ring me.’

‘You’re a good girl for getting Daddy, darling. Thank you,’ Mary said, trying to reassure the tearful little girl.

‘Will you be all right, Mummy?’ Sybbie asked, her face scrunched up with worry.

‘I’m sure I will, poppet,’ Mary answered, even as the pain in her arm threatened to steal her breath away and she tried to keep the panic over the baby at bay.

The wail of an ambulance broke through, gradually coming nearer.

Thomas looked down at Tom, shifting Sybbie’s weight on his hip. ‘Why don’t I take Sybbie and we’ll flag down the ambulance at the gate?’

Tom nodded, grateful to his friend for taking responsibility for Sybbie when all he could think about was his wife lying prone on the ground in obvious pain.

‘Come on, Sybbie, let’s go and make sure the ambulance finds us, so they can help your mum, eh?’ Thomas said, setting the little girl down on the ground and holding out his hand to her. Sybbie looked doubtfully at her father, who nodded encouragingly at her, then took Thomas’ hand and the two of them set off towards the open gate.

‘I’m so sorry, Tom,’ Mary said, a sob escaping her. ‘I’m so sorry.’

‘Shhh, darlin’, shhh. Don’t you worry. The ambulance will be here soon. They’ll look after you,’ he said, gently squeezing her fingers. ‘You’re awake and you’re talking, so that’s got to be good. I was so bloody scared when I got here and saw you and you were so still on the ground.’

‘But the baby,’ Mary sobbed. ‘What if I’ve lost the baby?’

‘Hush now. Let's not get ahead of ourselves. Pip’s only little. The size of a fig, remember? With a bit of luck, he or she’s still tucked up safe and is just wondering why there was a bit of an earthquake,’ Tom soothed, his voice gruff as he tried to keep his emotions in check.

‘You told me you didn’t want me to ride, but I had to go and do it anyway, didn’t I?’ Mary wept, tears trickling out of the corners of her eyes.

Tom smoothed his thumb over her cheeks, wiping away the tears, desperate to stop her berating herself. ‘It was a fox, Mary. It wasn’t your fault.’

‘It was! I should have listened to you!’

Tom gazed down at her, his heart breaking between her distress and the worry over their baby. All he could do was try to soothe her as the ambulance pulled up next to his Range Rover. The paramedics were out of the rig, their big medical bags over their shoulders, and by Mary's side within seconds, asking her questions and carrying out their tests and assessments.

As they rolled Mary onto the backboard and strapped her onto it, Tom looked up and over at where Thomas was keeping Sybbie back from proceedings. He got to his feet and jogged over to them.

‘Thomas, can you look after Sybbie while I go with Mary in the ambulance?’

‘Of course, I can. We’ll get along together just fine, won’t we, Miss Sybbie?’

Tom dropped to his knees, gathering his daughter into a tight hug before releasing her and looking her in the eye. ‘You go with Thomas, sweetheart. He’ll take you home and explain to Donk and Granny what’s happened.’

‘Will Mummy be all right?’ Sybbie asked in a small voice.

‘I’m sure she will, but she needs to go to the hospital so the doctors can check her over and see if she needs any medicine. The paramedics think she might have broken her arm. I’m going to go with her, so she’s not on her own, okay?’

Sybbie nodded, still looking upset. Tom leaned forward and kissed her. ‘You’ve been such a brave girl. I’m so proud of you.’

He stood up and nodded to Thomas. ‘Keys are still in the car. Will you drive Sybbie home and let Robert and Cora know what’s happened? I think they’re taking us to Northallerton. Tell them I’ll ring when I know what’s happening.’

‘I will. Call me when you need a lift home,’ Thomas said, reaching out to lay a comforting hand on Tom’s shoulder. ‘Doesn’t matter what time. Better for me to come and get you than Lord G when he’s had a shock.’

Tom nodded. ‘Thanks, mate.’

‘She’ll be all right. She will. Tough as old boots, that one.’

Tom nodded again, unable to find any more words.

‘Go. Be with your lady. Tell her we’re all thinking of her and we love her.’

Tom nodded once more, blinking furiously before looking down at Sybbie once more. ‘Be good for Thomas, monkey. I’ll see you soon.’

With that, he turned and strode back over to the ambulance where the paramedics were loading Mary, now on a stretcher, into the back.

‘Right, my little love, let’s get you home, shall we?’ Thomas said to his young charge, trying to pull her worried gaze away from her parents and the ambulance crew.

Sybbie nodded but kept her eyes fixed on the ambulance until the back doors shut, blocking her view of her mother lying sheet white on the stretcher and her father sitting across from her.

The ambulance set off back across the field. Sybbie and Thomas watched them go until he tugged on her hand.

‘Let’s go, poppet. We need to tell the stables to send someone for the horses, don’t we? And then we need to get you to your granny and grandad. And I need to let them know how brave you’ve been.’

‘I wasn’t very brave at all, Thomas,’ Sybbie said, looking up at him, her big blue eyes shiny with tears. ‘I was so scared. I thought Mummy was dead like my other mummy.’

Thomas felt his heart crack. He bent down and scooped up Sybil’s daughter, hugging her tight.

‘No, no, no, don’t you go thinking that, my sweet, sweet girl. She’s going to be fine. Absolutely fine. A bit sore for a little while maybe, but she’ll be right as rain in no time. And you, well, you are the bravest girl I know. You knew to ring your dad, didn’t you? And that meant Anna could call the ambulance and get help here quickly. It’s all down to you that your mum’s already on her way to hospital so the doctors can make her feel better. So I’ll be having none of that about you not being brave.’

Sybbie’s little face crumpled as the tears began to fall. ‘I didn’t feel brave.’

‘Well, I’ll tell you a secret, shall I? Sometimes you’re at your bravest when you’re scared but you do the right thing anyway. And that’s what you did. We’re all proud of you. Didn’t your dad just tell you he was proud of you? And I am super proud of you. You’re my best girl, you are.’

Sybbie looked at him, pressing her lips together and nodding. Thomas swiped his thumb under her eyes, brushing away her tears.

‘You gonna give me a smile?’

Sybbie sniffed and took a deep breath before mustering a watery smile.

‘That’s my girl. Now, let’s go, shall we?’ Thomas said, planting a kiss on her wet cheek and heading for the Range Rover.


	58. Chapter 58

Despite Mary’s pleading, the doctors insisted on assessing her instead of simply checking on the baby.

They asked her how long she was unconscious. She didn’t know, but Tom could tell them she was unconscious when Sybbie called him and was still out when he arrived at the scene roughly five minutes later. They checked her vision, they splinted her arm, they checked the rest of her over, carrying out more tests and assessments.

Mary begged them to check the baby. She was fairly sure she wasn’t bleeding, but she was terrified that was just because she hadn’t started to miscarry yet rather than because the baby was fine. Tom stayed with her all the time and when he couldn’t be right by her side because of the number of medical staff, he was always in her eyeline, always there, a solid presence to keep her anchored when she felt panic might drown her.

Finally, _finally_ , a nurse wheeled in an ultrasound machine. Tom was next to her now and she grasped his hand, squeezing tight until her knuckles and his hand were white. First the coldness of the gel, then the smooth bulb of the probe, then staring at the screen as a doctor moved the instrument over her belly, searching for Pip.

The seconds stretched, each one feeling like an eternity, until Mary heard the steady pulsing of a heartbeat, and then the black and white image on the screen resolved itself into the tiny, curved shape of a baby. A living baby with a ski slope nose and a beating heart. 

‘There it is, right where it's supposed to be,’ the doctor said, kindly. ‘Everything looks to be all right.’

‘Are you sure?’ Mary whispered, holding her breath in case it was all a cruel joke.

‘Yes, that’s definitely a strong heartbeat. Looks like your little one is already a seasoned rider.’

Mary let out a sob, releasing Tom’s hand and grabbing the front of his shirt to pull him close. He folded himself over her, cradling her in his arms letting her weep into his chest.

‘It’s all right, darlin’, it’s all right. Pip’s okay. It’s all right,’ he muttered into her hair, over and over.

The doctor gave them a few minutes to compose themselves before telling them what would happen next.

‘We need to make sure the bone in your arm is set properly then we’ll put a cast on it. We’re also going to keep you in overnight for observation because you lost consciousness for a period of time. It’s fortunate you were wearing your riding helmet, otherwise things could have been a lot nastier, but it’s better to be safe than sorry.’

‘Will I be able to go home tomorrow?’ Mary asked, wiping tears from her cheeks.

‘I hope so, but we’ll have a better picture of things in the morning. Your husband will be able to come back then.’

Tom nodded. ‘Thank you,’ he said. ‘Thank you for everything.’

‘You’re very welcome. I’m just glad we could give you good news. Now, someone will be along to take you to get the cast sorted soon,’ the doctor said, smiling reassuringly, then he nodded and walked away leaving Mary and Tom alone for the first time since they were waiting for the ambulance in the field.

‘I’m sorry, Tom,’ Mary said again, her face crumpling. ‘I’m so sorry to put you through all of this.’

‘No, darlin’, no,’ he soothed, pressing a kiss to her temple. ‘Don’t you worry about that. Pip’s fine. You’re in one piece, more or less. That is all I care about.’

‘I should have listened to you. I shouldn’t have gone riding.’

‘Mary, it wasn’t your fault. It wasn’t.’

‘But if I hadn’t been on the damn horse in the first place, none of this would have happened,’ she said, tears spilling down her face. ‘I really thought… I really thought… Pip… I thought…’

‘I know, sweetheart, I know what you thought, but it hasn’t happened. Pip’s like a little limpet in there, hanging on for dear life.’

Mary nodded, trying to stop the tears from flowing.

‘You know who that reminds me of? Someone who won’t ever give up?’

‘Granny?’ Mary muttered, fiddling with the bedsheet.

‘You. You never give up. And it looks like Pip might have your stubborn streak,’ Tom said, ducking his head to look in her eyes. ‘At this moment, I’m really bloody grateful for that, but God help us when they’re a teenager.’

‘Like you don’t have a stubborn streak a mile wide too,’ Mary said, mustering a tiny smile.

‘Yeah, maybe, but I wasn’t trained by a master from being knee-high to a grasshopper, was I?’ he said, with a little grin. ‘I reckon that kind of stubbornness might be genetic.’

‘Thank bloody God for that,’ Mary said, meaning that from the heart.

Tom leaned in and kissed her. ‘Our baby’s all right, Mary. That’s all that matters. I don’t want to hear you blaming yourself anymore, okay? It was a horrible accident, but that’s all it was, an accident.’

‘Well, I won’t be going riding again. Not until after Pip’s arrived.’

‘Good, I won’t argue with you there.’

‘You’d better go home, make sure the kids are okay, especially Sybbie. I gave her a terrible fright, I think,’ Mary said, looking anxiously at her husband.

Tom nodded. ‘Yes, we might have to keep an eye on her for a while, make sure she’s okay.’

‘And Mama and Papa will be worried about the baby.’

‘They’ll be worried about you too. I’ll wait until the nurse comes to get you then I’ll call Thomas to come and pick me up and then I’ll call Robert and Cora while I wait for him.’

‘I am sor-‘

Tom put his finger over her lips, stopping her words. ‘No. No more sorrys. Let’s just be thankful, okay?’

‘Just one more. I’m sorry I scared you. I know that must have been terrifying for you, finding me unconscious like that.’

Tom stared at her, swallowing hard. ‘It was… it was… I was terrified. Scared out of my bloody mind.’

‘And I’m so sorry I put you through that. I am. Especially after what you went through with Sybil.’

Tom closed his eyes, his mind going back to that horrific moment - the worst of his life - for the umpteenth time that day. ‘I know you are.’

‘Lady Mary Branson?’ a nurse said, appearing around the curtain, checking the piece of paper in her hand.

‘Yes.’

‘I’m here to take you to the fracture clinic. It seems you’ve been in the wars today.’

‘Can I have a moment to say goodbye to my husband?’

‘Of course, you can, love. I’ll just bring the wheelchair round,’ the woman said kindly, bustling off.

Mary looked over at Tom. ‘You’ll be all right?’

‘I should be asking you that.’

‘I’m in a hospital stuffed full of people who will be looking after me. I’m more worried about you at the moment.’

‘I’m fine,’ he said, leaning in to hug her gently. ‘I’ll text Thomas and call your folks while I wait for him, give them the headlines.’

‘Mama will likely smother you in hugs when you get home. Make sure you let her, okay?’

‘I will, I promise.’

‘Now kiss me before the nurse comes back and chases you away,’ Mary said, smoothing the front of his wrinkled shirt and tilting her face up for a heartfelt kiss.


	59. Chapter 59

Thomas walked into the entrance of the hospital, scanning the waiting area for his friend. He saw Tom sitting on a chair, staring into space, his hand resting on his thigh, clenching his phone in a white-knuckled grip. He walked over and waved his hand slowly in front of Tom’s face.

‘Earth to Branson. Your taxi’s here.’

Tom started, coming out of his trance and looking up at Thomas. ‘You’re here.’

‘Yes. Come on, mate, let’s get you home,’ Thomas said, taking Tom by the elbow and levering him out of his chair. ‘How is she?’

‘Bit bruised and sore. Broken arm, bruised ribs, one or two of them might possibly be cracked, and she might have a concussion. They’re keeping her in overnight to keep an eye on her.’

‘And the baby?’ Thomas asked hesitantly as they walked out of the hospital into the car park.

Tom nodded. ‘The baby’s okay. They did an ultrasound. We heard the heartbeat and saw it on the screen.’

‘Oh, thank God for that,’ Thomas breathed out. ‘That must have been a relief.’

‘Yeah, big relief. But…’

Tom stopped talking and Thomas glanced across at him. ‘But what?'

Tom looked at him, almost confused. ‘What?’

‘You said, “Big relief but…”'

‘Did I?’

‘Is there something wrong with the baby?’

‘What? No. No, nothing like that. At least, not that we know of.’

‘What’s the but then?’

‘Nothing. Where are you parked?’

‘Just over there,’ Thomas said, waving his hand in the direction of his car but looking at Tom in concern. ‘Are you all right?’

‘Yeah. Just tired. S’been a long day, you know.’

Thomas pulled his keys out of his pocket, blipping the car to unlock the doors. Tom went to the passenger side as they neared it and Thomas was heading to the driver’s door when he heard a noise and swivelled around.

Tom was leaning against the car, his hands braced on the roof, his head dropped down, sucking in great gulps of air.

‘Tom? Tom? Hey, hey, you all right, mate?’ Thomas said, backtracking swiftly to get to his friend.

Tom turned and slid down the side of the car, sitting on the floor, his knees drawn up, his head in his hands, still gulping in air.

‘I thought… I thought I’d lost her, Thomas. I thought… when I saw her lying there, I thought… I thought she was dead. I thought it was happening again,’ he choked out, tears running down his face.

Thomas stared down at him then crouched down, sitting on the ground next to him.

‘I just… she wasn’t moving, and she was so still and so pale and… and all I could see was Sybil. It was like I knew it was Mary and I could see it was Mary and I was terrified out of my wits for Mary, but I could see Sybil lying there too. Like the image of her, of her face after she… after she died… kept flickering in over the top of Mary. For a minute, I thought… I thought I’d lost both of them.’

Thomas swung his arm over Tom’s shoulders, curling his hand behind his head and pulling him into his shoulder, letting him sob.

‘You haven’t lost her, mate, you haven’t, but you let it all out. Just let it all out.’

‘It was like… it was like Sybil was coming for Mary. Like she’d come back to take her away from me. Sybil was dead, she looked like she did when she died, and Mary was lying there not moving and… Sybil was there too. Both of them. Both of them dead.’

Thomas tightened his grip on Tom, feeling him shaking next to him. ‘Mary’s not dead, Tom. She’s not dead. She’s strong and healthy and she’s alive. And so is your baby. Focus on that.’

'But that makes me feel like shit too because, if it had come down to it, if they'd asked me to choose between Mary and the baby, I would have chosen Mary in a heartbeat. I would have sacrificed the baby and begged them to save Mary. What kind of a father does that make me?'

'One who loves his wife. And you're a great dad, so don't be thinking that shit. And, more to the point, you didn't choose. You didn't. You've still got both of them. Don't you beat yourself up for something that never happened.'

Tom clutched the front of Thomas’ coat, his shoulders heaving as he tried to get himself under control. He sat on the tarmac, his face in Thomas’ shoulder for a few minutes before he felt a bit calmer. He sat up straight, pulling out of Thomas' hold, and rubbed his hands over his face, scrubbing the tears from his cheeks then he shook himself and got to his feet, looking over at Thomas as he followed him up.

‘Sorry,’ he said, embarrassed. ‘Sorry about that.’

‘Come here, you daft sod,’ Thomas said, rolling his eyes and stepping forward to pull Tom into a fierce hug. ‘You’ve just had what was probably the second-worst day of your life. You’re allowed to get emotional about it, you dick.’

‘Who you calling a dick?’ Tom muttered into Thomas’s jacket, but he hugged him back for a minute or so before letting go.

‘Have you been thinking about Sybil all day while you’ve been worrying about Mary?’

Tom hesitated then nodded.

‘Is that usual? Do you often get flashbacks of Sybil on that night?’

Tom shook his head. ‘No, not specifically that night. I mean, I think about her and I remember her, but not like this. Not like it was today. Must just have been the situation triggering it.’

Thomas tilted his head, looking at him thoughtfully.

‘Thanks,’ Tom said, reaching for the handle of the car door. ‘Thanks for everything today.’

‘Ah, don’t be stupid. Couldn’t leave you to sort it all out by yourself, could I? Thomas said, getting into the car. 'What kind of a crappy friend would I be if I did that?'

Tom buckled his seat belt and wiped his hands down his face again. ‘Was Sybbie all right?’

‘Yeah, but there is something I should probably tell you about though. Something she said to me.’

Tom looked over at his friend in concern. ‘What? What did she say?’

‘She said… well, she thought the same as you. She thought Mary was dead… like her other mummy, she said.’

Tom stared at Thomas then closed his eyes, shaking his head. ‘Poor little love. Of course, she did. She’s lost one mother even though she never knew her. Of course, that’s what she thought.’

‘I just thought you should know. Might need to keep an eye on her for a bit. She might be a bit clingy when you get home. And when Mary comes home. She might need that extra bit of reassurance.’

‘Yeah, yes, of course, I will. Thanks. Thanks for telling me.’

‘Lord and Lady G were all over her when I took her home to Downton. I told Lord G what she said, so they know, but I thought you should know too. I mean, you’re her dad.’

‘Thanks. Thanks, Thomas. And thanks for looking after her.’

‘Ah, that was no bother. I love that kid, you know I do,’ Thomas said, starting the car up.

‘She loves you right back. Her and George both. Did you see George?’

‘Yeah, he was with Lord G when me and Sybbie got to the Abbey. He was a bit shaken up when he heard what had happened. Asked me umpteen questions, but I told him Mary was in the best place and the doctors were patching her up and he seemed to calm down a bit. He was just worried about his mum. They’ll be glad to see you, the two of them. And Lord and Lady G.’

Tom nodded, casting Thomas a rueful look. ‘Better pull myself together then, hadn’t I? Can’t be a blubbering mess when I get home.’

Thomas gazed at him. ‘You’ll be fine. You’ve had a moment just now and you might have another one tonight when you go to bed and you’re on your own, and that’s fine. That’s normal. But I know you, Branson. You’ll be all stoic and reassuring for your family.’

Tom blew out a breath. ‘Is that what you think I am? Stoic and reassuring? Gotta say, I don’t feel very stoic and reassuring right now.’

Thomas cocked his head, gazing at Tom. ‘I’m willing to bet you’ve been exactly that all day for Mary in that hospital, haven’t you? I bet you didn’t tell her what you’ve just said to me about seeing Sybil, did you?’

‘No, I didn’t,’ Tom admitted.

‘Kind of proves my point, mate,’ Thomas said. He reached out, patting his friend’s knee. ‘You’ll go into that same mode when you get home too. You’ll be strong for Sybbie and George and for Lord and Lady G. That’s who you are. It’s what you do. I’m just going to say one thing though.’

‘What?’

‘When you have a moment – and you will – don’t bottle it all up. You need to talk about it, you call me, yeah? Or you call Anna. Or you call your mum or your brother. Or you even call frigging Edith. Just make sure you bloody call someone, okay? I’m not having you fall apart with PTSD or something because you were too bloody stubborn or embarrassed to pick up the phone and talk to someone.’

Tom stared at him then nodded. ‘Okay. Yeah.’

‘I mean it,’ Thomas said, narrowing his eyes at Tom. ‘I will be checking up on you and I can sniff out a lie at thirty paces, so don’t even think about bullshitting me that you’re fine if you’re not.’

‘I won't.’

‘Promise me. I’ve lost one friend because he wouldn’t ask for help when he needed it. I’m not losing another. If you start having more flashbacks to losing Sybil or panic attacks about almost losing Mary, you bloody come to me and tell me, Tom. You’re not alone in this.’

‘I promise.’

‘Even when Mary comes home. I’m always here, all right?’

‘Thomas, I promise. Hand on heart.’

Thomas sniffed, eyeing Tom carefully. ‘Right. Good. I’m glad we’ve got that straight. Now, let’s get you home, shall we?’


	60. Chapter 60

The whole family came pouring out of the Abbey as Tom pulled the car up outside the front door with Mary in the passenger seat.

Robert pulled the car door open, offering his daughter his hand to help her out of the car as Tom came round the bonnet.

‘Oh, Mary,’ Robert said, taking in the cast on her arm and the protective collar around her neck. ‘Oh, my poor, darling girl.’

‘I’m all right, Papa,’ she said as he brushed a gentle kiss on her cheek. ‘Just a bit sore and banged up. I’m thanking my lucky stars it wasn’t any worse.’

Cora hung back, keeping a restraining arm over the shoulders of each of the two children standing in front of her, worried they might rush at Mary. ‘Welcome home, darling.’

George ducked out from under her arm and approached his mother carefully, his eyes wide as he looked her over. ‘Are you really all right, Mummy?’

‘Yes, darling. The doctors have given me some medicine to help me when it hurts. Do I get a hug?’

George ran forward, throwing his arms around her waist. Mary sucked in a breath as her ribs protested, but hugged her boy back as best she could.

‘Gently, George!’ Tom warned. ‘Mind her ribs. They're a bit sore.’

‘Sorry,’ George muttered, loosening his hold on his mother, but still hanging on to her. ‘I was worried about you.’

‘I’m sorry I made you worry, Georgie,’ Mary said, patting his back with her uninjured arm. She looked over at Sybbie, still standing with her grandmother. ‘Sybbie, are you all right, darling?’

Sybbie nodded, looking a bit uncertain. ‘Does it hurt a lot? Your arm? And your neck?’

‘It’s not too bad as long as I don’t move too quickly. I just have to be careful for a while.’

Sybbie nodded again, still hanging back as Mary disentangled herself from George and walked slowly across to her.

‘Are you all right, poppet? That was quite a shock you had yesterday, wasn’t it?’ Mary asked, reaching out to cup her cheek.

Sybbie nodded once more, but her lips wobbled and her eyes filled with tears.

‘Oh, sweetheart, don’t cry,’ Mary said, drawing her close into her side. ‘You were so brilliant yesterday, really you were. And I’m all right, I am. There’s no need for tears.’

Sybbie nodded again, tears leaking slowly from her eyes as she tentatively hugged Mary.

Cora leaned forward to kiss Mary’s cheek, stroking Sybbie’s hair as she did so. ‘I think she’s just a bit emotional about it all. She’ll be fine now you’re home and she can see you’re all right. I think we’ll all breathe easier now you’re home.’

‘Why don’t we go in and have a nice cup of tea, eh?’ Robert said, putting his hands on George’s shoulders and steering him forward.

‘And cake?’ George asked, hopefully.

‘Well, of course. What’s tea without cake, my good man?’ Robert said, ruffling his grandson’s hair.

‘I’ll go park the car in the garage,’ Tom said, coming up behind his girls. ‘Sybbie, love, can you help Mummy get inside and settled somewhere comfy?’

Sybbie nodded, still to find her voice, but she slipped her hand into Mary’s good hand, ready to help.

‘I’ll be right back, darlin’,’ Tom said, kissing the side of Mary’s head. ‘Take it easy, won’t you?’

‘I’m only going inside, Tom. I’m not running a marathon.’

‘Even so. Go slowly.’

‘Don’t worry, Tom. Sybbie and I have got this,’ Cora said, stepping up on the other side of Mary to Sybbie and gently encouraging Mary towards the door.

* * *

'Right, I'll go and help your father and George with the tea and cake. If I leave them to their own devices for too long, there won't be any cake left for the rest of us,' Cora said after settling Mary in the library. 'Sybbie, you keep Mummy company while I'm gone. I'm sure we won't be too long.'

‘Will you come sit with me, Sybbie?’ Mary asked patting the seat next to her as her mother disappeared out of the door.

Sybbie came forward and sat gingerly next to Mary, being careful not to touch her.

‘Are you all right, darling? You’re very quiet.’

Sybbie nodded but didn’t say anything.

‘I know I gave you a terrible fright yesterday. Do you want to talk about that, sweetheart?’ Mary looked up as Tom came into the library, rounding the sofa to perch on the footstool in front of them. ‘I don’t want you to think you have to keep all that to yourself. You can talk to me and Daddy about it.’

Sybbie was quiet for a moment before replying in a small voice. ‘I was really scared.’

Tom reached out to take his daughter’s hand. ‘Thomas told me you said you thought Mummy was dead. Like your other mummy, he said.’

Sybbie nodded, her face crumpling and a tear sliding down her cheek.

‘Oh, my darling,’ Mary said, awkwardly putting her good arm around Sybbie. ‘I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry to have scared you like that.’

‘I dreamt about it last night,’ Sybbie said, more tears falling. ‘I dreamt that you didn’t wake up and I was looking for Daddy but I couldn’t find him. I was shouting and shouting for you, Daddy, but I couldn’t find you and nobody came and Mummy wouldn't wake up.’

Tom moved to sit on the other side of Sybbie, hugging her tight while Mary took her hand. ‘Oh, Sybbie. Why didn’t you tell me?’

‘I didn’t want to worry you. I knew you were going to the hospital today.’

‘Look at me, Sybbie,’ Mary said gently, waiting until Sybbie turned her face to her. ‘I’m absolutely fine. I have a few bruises and my arm is a bit useless at the moment, but I’m fit and healthy and I’m not going anywhere. And you, my darling, you were such a quick-thinking, brave girl yesterday. You didn’t panic even though you were frightened. You thought to ring Daddy and he did come and so did the ambulance. And that’s because of you. We are so very proud of you, do you know that?’

Sybbie nodded, sniffing back tears. Mary cupped her face and stroked the tears from her face with her thumb. She looked up at Tom, meeting his eyes over Sybbie’s head, and he nodded back at her.

Mary looked back down at their daughter. ‘You know, Sybbie, it wasn’t just me you saved yesterday.’

Sybbie glanced up at her, looking puzzled. ‘What do you mean?’

‘Do you remember when we went to buy your party dress in York last year?’

Sybbie nodded.

‘And do you remember asking me if Daddy and I were going to have a baby?’

‘Yes. You said you weren’t.’

‘I did because we weren’t having a baby then. But we are now.’

Sybbie stared at her. ‘You’re having a baby?’

‘Yes, poppet.’

‘Really?’

‘Really.’

Sybbie turned to look at her father, who grinned at her.

‘Are you ready to be a big sister, Sybbie?’

‘Are you really having a baby?’

‘We are.’

‘When?’ Sybbie asked, swinging back around to Mary.

‘Next spring, probably around the end of April,’ Mary said, smiling to see Sybbie’s face light up with delight instead of the sadness and worry of a few seconds ago.

‘Is it a boy or a girl?’

‘We don’t know. We won’t know that until it arrives.’

‘I hope it’s a little girl.’

‘Well, whether it’s a little boy or a little girl, you’ve already been the best big sister to it when you were so level-headed yesterday and rang Daddy for help.’

Sybbie’s face clouded over for a minute. ‘The baby wasn’t hurt when you fell, was it?’

‘No, love, it wasn’t,’ Tom said, squeezing her hand to reassure her. ‘The doctors showed us the baby inside Mummy on a computer screen yesterday and we heard its heart beating. It’s okay.’

‘Did you get a picture of it?’

‘No, but we’re going to get a picture next week. Are you happy, sweetheart?’

‘Yes,’ said Sybbie, decisively, slipping her arms around Tom and hugging him tight. He hugged her back, smiling at Mary over her head.

Sybbie let go of him and turned to Mary, looking at her cautiously. ‘I want to hug you too, Mummy, but I don’t want to hurt you.’

‘Why don’t you give me a big kiss instead then?’ Mary suggested.

Sybbie beamed at her and leaned up to kiss her cheek, taking care not to jostle Mary in any way.

‘Does Georgie know?’

‘No, not yet. We’ll tell him when he comes back with Donk and Granny and the cake, shall we?’

‘Do Donk and Granny know?’

‘Yes, they do.’

‘They never said anything.’

‘Well, no because they knew we wanted to tell you ourselves,’ Tom said, gently tickling Sybbie. ‘It’s good news, isn’t it? Maybe you can think about that now instead of the accident when it pops into your head. Think of the good things, not the bad things, eh, poppet?’

Sybbie nodded, a big smile on her face. ‘What are you going to call it?’

‘Well, I’m calling it Pip at the moment,’ Tom told her.

Mary pulled a face and butted in. ‘But that’s not going to be its name when it gets here.’

‘Why are you calling it Pip?’ Sybbie asked, curiously.

‘Because it was the size of an apple pip when we found out about it,’ Tom said with a grin.

‘An apple pip? But that’s tiny!’

‘That’s exactly what I said,’ her father told her. ‘Great minds think alike, Sybbie.’

‘I didn’t know babies could be that small,’ Sybbie said.

‘They are when they first start growing. Smaller even,’ Mary answered her. ‘But they don’t stay that small for long.’

‘Is that how it got inside you then, Mummy? It was so small you swallowed it?’

Mary pressed her lips together, torn between apprehension at the prospect of having to explain the birds and the bees to Sybbie right here, right now, and utter glee at the horrified look on Tom’s face as he suddenly realised they were going to have to explain where babies came from.

‘No, darling, I didn’t swallow it. Daddy put it inside me,’ she said, calmly as Tom goggled at her over Sybbie’s head.

Sybbie swivelled her head towards Tom in interest. ‘How did you do that, Daddy?’

Tom stared at his daughter, acutely aware of Mary trying to suppress her laughter on the other side of Sybbie. ‘I… er… well, I just did.’

‘But how?’

‘Come on, Tom,’ Mary said, gleefully. ‘Answer the question. How did you put it in me?’

Tom glared at her, his face turning an interesting shade of red, while Sybbie waited for her answer.


	61. Chapter 61

‘Mary!’ Anna said in surprise, getting up from her chair as Mary appeared in the doorway to the office, Tom close behind her. ‘We didn’t expect to see you back in the office yet.’

‘Oh, I was getting so bored at home, I begged Tom to let me come in for a while, even if it’s just to talk to you two for a bit.’

‘How are you feeling?’ Anna asked in concern, coming over to gently hug her friend.

‘Bit sore. Can’t breathe too deeply, the collar is not the most comfortable thing in the world and it’s driving me crazy not being able to use my right hand, but apart from that, I’m all right.’

‘It’s good to see you on your feet again but, bloody hell, Crawley, you don’t half know how to scare the crap out of us,’ Thomas said, dryly, coming over to kiss her on the cheek. ‘You don’t do things by halves, I’ll give you that.’

‘So I’m told. I want to say thank you to you for taking care of Sybbie. That means such a lot to both of us.’

‘Ah, you’re welcome. That was a given. Even a bastard like me wouldn’t leave a traumatised kid alone in a field, especially not when it’s my little bestie,’ Thomas said with a grin.

‘I’ll go make some tea,’ Tom said, chucking his keys on his desk. ‘Don’t let her overdo it, will you?’

Mary rolled her eyes as Tom left the office, heading for the kitchen. ‘I don’t know what he thinks I’m going to do.’

‘He just wants you to take it easy,’ Anna said, soothingly.

‘He’s watching me like a hawk at the moment. Won’t let me so much as carry a plate by myself,’ Mary groused.

Thomas gave her a censorious look. ‘You scared the shit out of him, Mary. Like properly scared the shit out of him. Give him a break, eh?’

‘I know I did, but I’m all right. I’m not going to break if I walk across a room or spend five minutes without him. He needs to give me a bit of breathing space or we’re going to fall out.’

Thomas gazed at her, picking his words carefully. ‘Right, I get that that might be annoying, but let him hover. Let him be overprotective. At least for a bit longer.’

‘But I don’t need him to be!’

‘Maybe it’s not about you and what you need. Have you thought it might be about him and what he needs?’

Mary looked at him, feeling disconcerted. ‘What does that mean?’

‘It means maybe he’s still processing what happened. Have you thought what it was like for him?’

‘Well, I know he was worried, and I gave him a fright.’

‘A fright? Babe, that’s not even close. He thought you were dead. That’s bad enough for anyone to deal with, but for a man who’s already watched one wife die? How do you think that feels? He thought he'd lost another woman he loves. What do you think that does to your head?’

Mary tilted her head, looking at Thomas keenly. ‘Has he said something to you?’

Thomas pursed his lips, thinking about how to respond to that. ‘Let’s just say I was with him when he left the hospital that day. He wasn’t in good shape.’

Mary stared at him, feeling a little like the rug had been pulled out from under her. ‘He’s never said anything about that.’

‘No, that doesn’t surprise me. I’m willing to bet he’s been all strong and manly for you since you got home, but that day, well, it properly knocked him on his arse,’ Thomas said, hoping Tom wouldn’t kill him if he found out he’d more or less told Mary about his breakdown at the hospital. ‘So, maybe you could cut him a bit of slack if he’s helicoptering over you all the time because maybe he needs a bit of time to reassure himself that you really are okay and not about to drop dead in front of him.’

‘Oh, God, is that what he thinks?’ Mary said, feeling awful that she hadn’t truly understood what her husband might have been going through.

‘Well, he hasn’t said as much, but you know Branson. He’s not one to put what he needs above anyone else’s needs, especially yours. He probably thinks he’s hovering because you need him, but I would lay money on it being something he needs to do for him too to put his mind at rest.’

‘Thomas, I didn’t know you were such a student of human behaviour,’ Anna said from her perch on the edge of her desk.

‘What? You think I’m wrong?’ Thomas snapped, thinking she was taking the mick.

‘No, no, I think you’re probably spot on,’ Anna responded, quickly. ‘I just didn’t expect all that insight from you.’

‘Well, I have hidden depths, Batesy. I’m deep. Very deep.’

Anna laughed, Mary joining her before wincing and clutching her ribs. ‘You’re not that deep,' Anna declared. 'I’ve seen you cry when your favourite gets kicked out of Strictly Come Dancing.’

‘That’s because I have emotional depths. I feel people’s pain,’ Thomas protested, glaring at Mary and Anna as they laughed fondly at him again. ‘I’m going to help Tom with the drinks. You two witches can stay here cackling together.’

‘Thomas,’ Mary called, stopping him as he got near the door. ‘Thanks. I’ll bear it in mind, what you said. I’ll let him hover.’

Thomas nodded. ‘Good. I mean, if he’s still doing it in a week or so, give me a shout and I’ll come and kick his arse for you if you want but until then just let him do what he needs to do.’

Mary grinned at him. ‘Go and fetch my tea, Barrow. I’m parched here.’

Thomas rolled his eyes and disappeared through the door, muttering ‘Bossy cow,’ under his breath. When he got to the kitchen, Tom was taking tea bags out of four mugs.

‘You know, we really should get a teapot. Mammy would be horrified if she saw me wasting tea bags like this, one for each cup when two in a pot would do for the four of us,’ Tom said as Thomas came in the room.

‘She’s a good, thrifty Irishwoman, your mum,’ Thomas said, opening the fridge and pulling out the milk. He handed it to Tom and settled himself against the counter. ‘How are you doing?’

‘I’m fine.’

Thomas said nothing, simply raised an eyebrow at his friend.

‘I am,’ Tom insisted, glancing sideways at Thomas.

‘You lying git. Mary says you’re hovering over her every minute of the day.’

‘Well, maybe I am a bit anxious, but she’s got two cracked ribs, she’s black and blue and she can’t use her dominant arm, so I think I’m entitled to be.’

‘So, it’s just worry about Mary, is it?’

‘Yes.’

‘No more dead Sybil flashbacks?’

Tom paused, putting the milk down. ‘No. No more Sybil flashbacks.’

‘Look at me when you say that,’ Thomas challenged.

Tom turned his head and looked his friend dead in the eye. ‘I promise you, Thomas, I’m not seeing my dead wife anymore. I’d tell you if I was because it would be freaking me the fuck out if that was still happening.’

Thomas narrowed his eyes, studying Tom’s face intently, then nodded, apparently satisfied. ‘All right. I believe you. Mary was bitching about you not leaving her alone for a single moment, but I told her to suck it up. It’s her own fault for falling off her bloody horse and putting the wind up you like she did.’

Tom chuckled. ‘Is that how you put it? In those exact words?’

‘Of course, I bloody didn’t!’ Thomas snorted, looking at Tom incredulously. ‘Do I look like a man with a death wish? No, I was much more – what’s the word? – conciliatory.’

Tom chuckled again. ‘Of course, you were. Afraid she’d beat you over the head with her cast, were you?’

‘A little, yes,’ Thomas said with a sheepish grin. ‘She might be injured, but she’s still a fierce woman.’

‘A fierce woman who’s waiting for her tea,’ Tom said, wafting a teaspoon at a mug that read ‘Grammar: The difference between knowing your shit and knowing you’re shit’. ‘That one’s Mary’s. The unicorn one is yours.’

Thomas beamed at him happily. ‘That’s my favourite.’

‘I know.’

‘Aw, Branson, you know my favourite mug and how I like my tea. Does this mean we’re officially in a bromance?’

Tom rolled his eyes. ‘No, it means I’ve worked with you for too long.’

Thomas picked up his and Mary’s mugs, heading for the door. ‘If you bring me chocolate biscuits, I’ll take it as a sign you’re admitting we're secretly in a bromance. Nobody else needs to know.’

Tom smiled and opened the cupboard by his head, reaching inside it, before following Thomas with his own mug of tea and Anna’s. He walked back into the office, putting Anna’s mug on her desk then headed for his own, wordlessly dropping an unopened pack of chocolate digestives on Thomas’s desk as he passed it.

Thomas stared at the biscuits then looked over at Tom, grinning. ‘Mate, I knew it. I totally knew it. I love you too, bro.’

Tom hid his smile in his tea and flipped Thomas the finger. ‘I deny everything.’

Thomas chuckled, breaking open the biscuits and tuning into Mary and Anna’s conversation.

‘So, when’s your scan then?’ Anna was asking.

‘Monday. We did think about cancelling it because we saw Pip on the screen the other day when the doctors checked me over, but we’d both like to see them again and get a picture. Sybbie’s dying to see a picture.’

‘Pip?’ Anna asked, raising an eyebrow.

‘Tom, you’re up. You came up with that, that’s your department,’ Mary said, sinking back into her chair as much as she could and taking a swig of her tea, thinking how good it felt to be back in the office, chatting with her friends.


End file.
